Probate Help Service

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:

Ask Heritage 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 we will quote you a fixed fee for doing all the work on your behalf.
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.
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 01603 430099 and we can send some to you.

Ask Heritage to Help
At Heritage we provide a discreet and confidential service, covering every aspect of Probate and the administration of the deceased person's estate. Whether your executor just needs some guidance and support which we offer free of charge if secure storage was taken, or we can take all the weight off their shoulders and deal with the whole process, in a fast and efficient manner.

Unlike other Probate services, Heritage offers an hourly fee service (we only charge for what we do) and we are often much quicker at the task than many larger firms.

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

Click on the two links above and print out the probate applications or telephone the local probate registry and ask for a personal application.
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.
Advertise for creditors locally and in the London Gazette.
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.
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.
Distribute assets, prepare accounts and keep for twelve years