You need to value the estate, complete the tax forms, prepare the supporting documents and submit an application. Our Leeds team can complete the whole process for you if you prefer.

In order to determine whether there is any inheritance tax due from the estate, you will need to calculate the net estate for inheritance tax purposes and where necessary, check if you are eligible for any inheritance tax reliefs.

Call 0113 222 4408 to book an appointment at a Leeds One Stop Centre. Take the Medical Certificate and key personal details with you.

To register a Lasting Power of Attorney, you must complete the correct forms, ensure all required people sign in order, and then submit it to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). Our Leeds solicitors can manage this entire process for you.

Usually, the family or executor tells the solicitor directly. We keep someone’s Will until they ask for it back, or we are informed of their death and their executors pass our ID checks and provide proof of death.

You check for a will, notify organisations, value the estate, see if probate is needed, apply for Letters of Administration, pay debts and then distribute the estate under intestacy rules. We can handle this for you from start to finish.

A Health and Welfare LPA focuses on decisions related to your health and personal well-being, while a Property and Financial Affairs LPA pertains to decisions about your finances and property.

Your compensation is paid into a trust account managed by trustees. You can still spend the money, but withdrawals must be approved and signed by your trustees.

LPAs work under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). Attorneys can refer to the MCA or the related Code of Conduct for guidance. They can also ask the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) for advice on how to act.

A person dies with or without a will.
Without a will, a friend or relative can apply to be their administrator.
With a will, an executor will be named.
The broad term for executor or administrator is personal representative.
The personal representative must then administer the estate of the deceased according to the Intestacy Rules if there is no will, or by the terms of the will is there is one.
In some cases, to do this, they must obtain a Grant or Representation (Grant of Letters of Administration if there is no will, Grant of Probate if there is a will) from the Probate Registry.
The grant allows them to do things like close bank accounts, sell property, pay debts and distribute to beneficiaries.
They may have to pay inheritance tax to HMRC. This has to be done before they get a grant.
The process may be as quick as six months if there is no property to sell or may take several years.
There are rules regarding the timescale in which an estate should be dealt with but depends on the circumstances. Distributing too quickly or too slowly can result in problems for the personal representative in the form of creditors or beneficiaries who haven’t been paid or who they didn’t even know existed!
Further tax, like income or capital gains tax, may be due to HMRC in the estate.
To finalise the estate, a full set of estate accounts should be produced to show the estate’s value as at date of death, the assets collected in, debts paid and beneficiaries distributed to.

When someone dies having already made a will, they are likely to have explained in their will which assets they are leaving, such as property, money and possessions, and to who they would like to leave them (the beneficiaries). Everything that is owned by the deceased is called their “estate”. The will should name the executor, who is the person in charge of distributing the assets.

The executor will then need to apply for probate to give them legal authority to collect the assets within the deceased’s estate and distribute them to the beneficiaries. Before the executor applies for probate, they will need to estimate the value of the estate and calculate whether any inheritance tax is due.

IHT is calculated by adding up the total value of your estate and subtracting any debts. If the estate is above the tax-free threshold (£325,000), the rest may be taxed at 40%. Certain reliefs and exemptions can reduce this.

Where the solicitor is acting as the executor, they will often hold inheritance money for 6 months after the Grant of Probate is given. This is because if anyone wants to make an Inheritance Act claim against the estate because they reasonably expected to receive an inheritance but didn’t, they must do this within 6 months of probate being granted. Therefore, if someone does make a claim for money from the estate and they are successful, the amount can be deducted from the total held by the solicitor before it is allocated amongst the beneficiaries.

Inheritance funds are often held for up to 6 months after probate, in case someone makes a claim. After that, money is usually released to beneficiaries.

We keep a deceased client’s Will until the executors contact us for it for probate. Once the death & the executors’ identities are confirmed, the original Will is released to the authorised executors.

Indefinitely until the testator (the person whose will it is) dies & their executors come to collect it or if the testator wants to make a new will & requests the old will be released to them.

At the moment, most Grants take around 12-16 weeks. Delays happen if HMRC needs more information or if documents are missing. Using a solicitor usually reduces the risk of mistakes that slow things down.

As of November 2024, it is taking 16 weeks from the day the Probate Registry confirm they are processing your application for them to issue you with a Grant. However, there can be exceptions.

The Office of the Public Guardian usually takes around 16 weeks to register an LPA. Times vary depending on their workload, so it’s best to start early to avoid delays.

Once signed, registration with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) usually takes around 16 weeks, depending on government processing times. Winston Solicitors will handle all the paperwork for you.

On average, probate takes around 4–6 months for straightforward estates. Complex cases with property sales, multiple assets or beneficiaries, foreign assets or beneficiaries, or tax issues may take longer.

Most applications take around 12-16 weeks once submitted, but delays are common. Using solicitors helps avoid mistakes that hold up the process.

Most grants take around 12-16 weeks, though delays are common if documents or information are missing. Using a solicitor, such as Winston Solicitors, can help avoid errors that slow things down.

Typically, the registration process takes around 16 weeks. This includes a 4-week waiting period to allow for any objections.