PROBATE
Get in touch to discuss your tax 01902 585 311 stephanie.churchill@churchilltaxation.co.uk
Managing the affairs of someone who has died can be overwhelming and time consuming, especially if you’re dealing with your own grief.
We’ll ease your burden by providing expert advice and practical support to help you administer probate correctly and without the stress.
At Churchill Taxation, we always act professionally and sensitively. Plus, you can choose how much support you need, to ensure you receive the service that suits you and your circumstances best. Perhaps you only require minimal professional input in relation to estate administration, or you may benefit from more in-depth assistance from our team.
WHAT IS PROBATE?
Probate is the process of dealing with the estate (property, money and possessions) of someone who has died.
If you’re responsible for carrying out the wishes of a person’s will and settling their estate, you’ll need to apply for a grant of probate. But if that person died without a will, their estate is divided up according to intestacy law.
You can settle the affairs of the deceased person yourself or appoint a professional to act on your behalf.
But you may not need probate if the person who died had jointly owned land, property, shares or money (these will automatically pass to the surviving owners), or only had savings or premium bonds.
OUR PROBATE SERVICES
- Assets – we’ll identify all the deceased’s assets and liabilities, so we can work out the value of their estate.
- Inheritance tax (IHT) – we’ll prepare the inheritance tax return, taking care to claim for any relevant tax reliefs that are legally available.
- Grant of representation – we’ll apply for this on your behalf. A grant of representation is the collective term for two different types of legal document: a grant of probate and a grant of letters of administration (depending on whether there is or isn’t a will).
- Liquidation of estate – once the grant of representation has been issued, we’ll help you with selling the estate’s assets and making sure any liabilities (taxes and debts) are paid. We don’t offer client account services, so the executor will need to open a bank account. But we can assist with paperwork etc. as required to get assets liquidated and paid into the executor account. Taxes such as capital gains tax (CGT) and income tax may be due at this stage.
- Estate distribution – after all debts and taxes have been paid, we’ll help you with distributing the estate in accordance with the will or rules of intestacy.
WHY USE US?
We’re trained in dealing with the complex legal, financial and tax matters that are all part of the probate process.
What’s more, we’re authorised/Licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales to carry out the reserved legal activity of non-contentious probate in England and Wales.
Our qualifications:
- ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Probate and Estate Administration assessment
- Mercia Certificate in Probate and Estate Administration
PROBATE PRICES AND TIMESCALES
We offer fair, transparent, competitive pricing. Our hourly rate starts at £295 plus VAT, and we’ll agree a fee cap with you at the start, so you’ll be clear on costs from the outset.
Preparing IHT returns and applying for probate usually takes around 10-14 hours for a typical estate worth up to £2 million. We’ll agree a cap with you for each stage of the process and will let you know when we reach that limit. We’ll then give you an estimate of how long the rest of the work will take and the additional cost.
Liaising with financial institutions and others can take up to three months. We’d expect this to involve a further 5-10 hours of work, depending on the number of assets etc. The process includes waiting for valuations and responses before we can complete the relevant forms.
We don’t collect assets and hold them in a client account. But we can assist an executor with collecting assets, if they have an executor’s bank account that funds can be paid into. We can complete the estate tax returns and accounts etc. and would expect this to take up to a further 10 hours.
It usually takes about one month to prepare the paperwork to be submitted to HMRC and the probate registry, and it can then take up to six months for the grant to be issued. Please bear in mind HMRC and probate registry response times are out of our hands.
HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT
We’re committed to providing you with a high-quality service that is both efficient and effective.
If you’re not satisfied with any aspect of our work, please contact our managing director, Stephanie Churchill: stephanie.churchill@churchilltaxation.co.uk. Or, if your complaint relates to Stephanie, please get in touch with our tax director, Nicole Andrews: nicole.andrews@churchilltaxation.co.uk
You also have the option to complain to the ICAEW: How to make a complaint | ICAEW or Legal Ombudsman: Bring your complaint to us | Legal Ombudsman
Get help with probate
For help with probate or to find out more about our services, call us on 01902 585 311 or email: stephanie.churchill@churchilltaxation.co.uk
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