Probate 3 stage process
STAGE 1
information gathering/valuation
All the steps are important, but this is the one that determines which HMRC form you use and ultimately the amount of Inheritance Tax due.
It starts with a box or a filing cabinet or a drawer or a file. All the deceased's paperwork is reviewed and summarised into a schedule of assets and liabilities.
We do all this for you, included in our fee if you use our complete service. You can drop off boxes of records and our team carefully sort them into Probate and Non-Probate relevant materials. All Non-Probate relevant materials are boxed up ready for you to collect or to be delivered back to you. This includes Photographs, Certificates and other items we know are important to you. We do not destroy anything.
The Probate relevant materials are then retained by us and organised into a file.
We then start the process of contacting everyone to ask for up to date accurate details to begin filling in the forms for Probate and HMRC.
sTAGE 2
THE TECHNICAL PART
This is the part most firms will refer to as 'Probate' and will be the only part they will do for a fixed fee. We can do just this stage for you for £699 inclusive of Probate Registry Fees (see Fast, Fixed Fee Probate).
In this part you take all the information from Stage 1 and complete the forms for the Probate Registry and HMRC.
We save you time and money by completing this Stage for you, as part of either our complete service or our fast service. We calculate any Inheritance Tax due, and use all available reliefs and exemptions. Our fast service is not suitable for estates with Inheritance Tax to pay, contact us for advice.
sTAGE 3
Estate administration
Once you have Probate, the final stage of the process is collecting in the assets (realising cash, selling shares, selling houses and cars (all dependent on beneficiaries preference)), paying any debts, and then distributing the remainder as per the terms of the will or rules of intestacy.
This is part of our service, once Probate is obtained we talk to the Executors and Beneficiaries about realisation and distribution of assets.
Assets realised as cash into our client accounts are covered by the ICAEW Client Money Regulations.
https://www.icaew.com/en/technical/practice-resources/practice-regulation/clients-money
