Article by Phil
As the number of estates facing Inheritance Tax (IHT) bills rises, the need for probate help is also under pressure.
Over 30,000 estates had to pay IHT last year a rise of 15% on the year before. That means probate is needed in over 5% of deaths in the UK. Over £6.7 billion in IHT was paid last year. This will only rise once pensions are included in the value of an estate, which is what the government has announced.
The number of online searches for inheritance tax advice has soared by 150%, as have other search terms like inheritance tax for grandchildren.
So, what is probate?
Probate is the term for dealing with someone’s Will after they have died. You need a legal right to deal with the estate, which is granted in the Will to a named executor.
Probate itself is a legal document from the court which allows executors to dispose of the assets of the estate to the beneficiaries. This might include for example, investments, property and money in bank accounts. But before probate is granted by the courts, executors must do a few important things first. These include:
- Registering the persons death.
- Gathering all the relevant documents together relating to assets.
- Providing the death certificate to the organisations who need it.
- Cashing in investments and bank accounts.
- Selling property and other assets.
- Paying any outstanding debts.
- Paying all relevant taxes including any income tax, capital gains tax and of course any inheritance tax.
This is where people often need probate help.
Where can you get probate help?
Firstly, you can of course deal with probate yourself. And there are some good guides online to provide assistance. Including the Governments probate website and Citizens Advice. But probate can be complicated especially where is taxes are due, and it is important that the tax is calculated correctly. If tax is under paid executors can be held liable by HMRC, so it needs to be done right.
That’s why a lot of people will choose to deal with a solicitor. There are other people who can help with probate as well, who aren’t solicitors but who are experts in dealing with probate.
This is one of the services we offer of course.
Passing your inheritance on
With IHT on the rise and more estates being caught in the tax trap, people are increasingly looking for ways to mitigate the tax. One possible way is to pass your inheritance straight on to your children or grandchildren. That way you are likely to avoid paying IHT on the same amount twice. Of course, you have to be in a financial position not to need the inheritance and there are considerations about future care costs. But inheritance can be passed on in certain circumstance by varying the Will after death.
You will need specialist probate help to do this.
Probate fraud
Please be wary of probate fraud however, especially if you are dealing with it on your own. Since the introduction of a digital system in 2017, the amount of fraud has rocketed. Before 2017 executors had to meet with the probate registry to have the grant of probate agreed. Now the process is online which provides much less opportunity for checking that things have been done properly. There have been many incidents of fraudsters creating false Wills and submitting them online to claim the value of estates.
Please watch out for anything unusual particularly any beneficiaries who are not known to you.
How much does probate cost?
The answer is that the cost of probate can vary considerably. Most solicitors work on an hourly rate. That will usually be somewhere between £200 and £400 an hour depending on how experienced the solicitor is. That can become expensive especially when you will need to pay 20% VAT on top of those fees. Some solicitors will charge a percentage of the estate to complete the probate help. That could be as low as 1% or up to 5%, but again that will be pls VAT.
Our fees are likely to be much lower than a solicitor. Plus, we won’t charge VAT.
Chrsitina has dealt with dozens of probate cases most including the need to pay taxes. Christina is likely to be more experienced than most solicitors when it comes to valuing and dealing with investments and pensions within an estate.
Get more information.
For more probate help why not contact Christina today. We offer a free initial meeting to discuss your requirements and explain how our service works. You are under no obligation to use us after that if you don’t want to and we won’t pester you.
So why not call us today on 01282 614444 or e mail us enquiries@ccfps.co.uk or use our contact form online.
