Following the death of a relative or friend it is important to receive independent legal advice from a trusted source.
The immediate problems of obtaining official permission to administer an estate as well as the possibility of dealing with demands for inheritance tax payments can be overwhelming.
Expert guidance is needed as well as legal representation in order to deal with estates with or without a will.
In both cases we offer an initial meeting at our office or at your home, and very clear guidance on the options.
Probate is a process with clear steps and some of these you may wish to take yourself as executor. If you would rather leave the entire process to us, the fee will be larger but in either case it is usually a fixed fee.
Either way, we will always agree what we are being asked to do for the family and be clear about the costs of our involvement.
Certainty Will Search
As part of our probate process we conduct a Certainty Will Search with The National Will Register.
Why do we conduct a Certainty Will Search?
It is an unfortunate reality that when a loved one passes on you may find yourself in one of the following situations:
The National Will Register and we can help you by conducting a Certainty Will Search. This is a quick process that accesses millions of Will Records. Not only does it search for Wills that are registered but it also searches nationally in geographically targeted areas for Wills that have not been registered.
The National Will Register and it’s Certainty Will Search service are designed to help protect executors, administrators and beneficiaries against the risks associated with the distribution of an estate on an assumed intestacy basis, or using a Will that may have been superseded by a later unknown version.
Two in every ten Certainty Will Searches results in a Will being found where one was thought never to have been written or the Will being used to distribute the estate has been superseded by the newer found Will.
About The National Will Register – nationalwillregister.co.uk
For straightforward legal advice on probate matters contact Lorna Bastian on 01245 673070 or lbastian@aquabridgelaw.co.uk or Adam Kaye on 07566 780688 akaye@aquabridgelaw.co.uk or Emily Payne on 01245 206344 or epayne@aquabridgelaw.co.uk
