Most estates have to go through probate, whether you leave a will or not.  It ensures the deceased estate passes to the right people and all Tax due on death is identified and collected.

If your estate is over five thousand pounds, before it can be collected for distribution, a Grant of Probate must be obtained.   This means the Will must be formally recognised at the local Probate Registry.

All Banks, Building Societies and Insurance Companies will insist on seeing a Grant of Probate before they pay out and your house will not be able to be sold.

If your estate is worth more than £300,000 it may be liable to Inheritance Tax and you would be wise to enlist the help of a professional.

If you are acting as an Executor in a Will then you are personally liable for any debts, so professional advice is essential.

As an Executor in one of our Wills you have the following options when dealing with the estate:

1. Ask W.D.S Associates to complete the work for you.
   All our clients have access to our probate services with a massive reduction in fee's.  After you have obtained your quotation from your bank or solicitor telephone us with the details and receive a discount of up to 50% on the fee's. For a full list of discounts see the bottom of this page.

2. Do the work yourself with our help.
   If you wish to complete the work yourself all subscribing clients have access to our free advisory service.  Complete as much as you can and then arrange to visit one of our offices where an experienced consultant will complete the paperwork for you free of charge.

3. Pop into your local Bank or Solicitor and ask them to complete probate for you.
   The problem with this is they charge for their services and you will pay £2000 - £8000 for a simple estate.  Ask for a quotation before they start work.

If you need to apply for probate and would like to print out the applications click on the links below and print them out.  You need to have acrobat reader installed on your computer and you will need both apps.  Any problems then telephone 0800 0562015 and we can send some to you.

Probate Application (PA1)

Guidance notes For Probate Application Form PA1

How to obtain Probate - A guide for the applicant acting without a solicitor (PA2)

Need the probate address or telephone ~ click here

Dealing with Probate Yourself

If you are the appointed executor and wish to deal with probate yourself, the following is a very basic idea of the process involved ~ you will receive a booklet from the probate office to help

1. Click on the two links above and print out the probate applications or telephone the local probate registry and ask for a personal application.
2. Complete the yellow (assets) form and the blue (next of kin) form and submit to the probate registry with an original death certificate and the original Will.
3. Advertise for creditors locally and in the London Gazette.
4. After two ~ three weeks you will receive an appointment date to attend the court to confirm the details, pay the fee and swear an oath.
5. Another two ~ three weeks later you will receive the grant of probate to send to the institutions holding the money to release any assets for distribution.
6. Distribute assets, prepare accounts and keep for twelve years.
   
   

~ Warning ~

If an executor makes a mistake and does not follow the directions of the Trustees Acts they could be personally liable to the deceased creditors.

In 1999 an executor of one of our Wills had to re-pay social services over £12,000 out of his own pocket because the deceased had claimed benefits to which she was not entitled during her lifetime and the executor had not advertised in the correct publications for creditors as we had recommended.  Although not legally obligated the beneficiaries had not spent the money and agreed to refund him.

~ Don't panic ~

All subscribing clients have access to our free probate and administration service, so you can be assured that if anything should happen to you we will advise your executors how to deal with your estate.

Discounts are available to anyone who writes a Will with W.D.S Associates.

Non W.D.S Clients

Our fee's for dealing with probate will be between 5 per cent of the estate.  Please telephone for a free, without obligation quotation.  We will beat any written quotation from a Bank or Solicitor.

W.D.S Lifetime Subscription Clients

Lifetime clients are entitled to a discount of charges, depending on which level of subscription has been taken, our charges range from 1 - 4 per cent of the estate.

W.D.S Annually Subscribing Clients

Annual clients are entitled to a discount of charges, depending on which level of subscription has been taken, our charges range from 1 - 4 per cent of the estate.