It is an upsetting time when someone close to you passes away. At JCP Solicitors we are able to offer a sympathetic and supportive service to assist you as much as possible to ensure that everything is dealt with as little stress as possible giving you the comfort of knowing that the affairs of your loved one is being dealt with by a specialist in this area of law. We are here to help you to ensure that your loved one’s affairs are dealt with accurately and that all legal requirements are dealt with correctly.

If the deceased has not left a Will they are said to die intestate. Who deals with the administration of their estate and who inherits their estate is decided by the Rules of Intestacy. These rules are inflexible. Many people believe that by not leaving a Will their whole estate will pass to their Spouse or Civil Partner. This is not correct. When there is no Will it would be wise for the family to take advice from a specialist Probate Solicitor as to how the Rules of Intestacy affect the estate as they would not want to do anything incorrectly whilst administering the estate which could have serious consequences. The absence of a Will can cause major problems for the family of the deceased, not only from a financial point of view but also with potential family disputes about who inherits under the Rules of Intestacy.

From 1 February 2009 the Rules of Intestacy changed so that the amounts of money left to surviving relatives increased as follows:

• Where the deceased is survived by a spouse or civil partner AND children the amount will be £250,000.00 (previously £125,000.00)
• Where the deceased is survived by spouse or civil partner AND parents or siblings but NO children the amount will be £450,000.00 (previously £200,000.00)

Where a person dies leaving a Will it is the persons who are named as executors who are responsible for administering the estate. Here they must provide full details of the estate to the Probate Registry and HM Revenue and Customs. It is common for a Grant of Probate to be necessary to be able to access Bank and Building Society accounts in order to gather in the estate of the deceased for distribution to the beneficiaries. The executors will have to make an application to the Probate Registry for this.

At JCP Solicitors we can be as involved as little or as much as you want with the administration of an estate from the giving of initial advice and information on the procedure to follow, to applying for a grant of probate, to the taking full control of the administration.

We also pride ourselves in going that extra mile to assist clients with the logistics and extra things associated with the death of a loved one. We are able to assist with house clearances, and the valuations and sale of valuables, property and investments. We are also able to recommend and work closely with financial advisors to ensure that the most is made of any investments.

Call 01792 773 773 or tell us how we can help you here.