When a person dies, their legal and tax affairs need to be dealt with in the correct manner – this process is called Estate Administration (sometimes referred to as Probate).
If the deceased made a valid Will, their chosen Executor(s) would be responsible for dealing with the estate, whereas if there is no Will in place (or the Will is invalid), an Administrator would be appointed to deal with it.
Did you know?
Executors and Administrators are personally and legally responsible for ensuring an estate is handled correctly.
This means that if you agree to act as an Executor or Administrator, you will be personally liable for any mistakes you make, and you can be held financially liable for any losses owing to a breach in your legal duties.
For this reason, we highly recommend using the services of a professional estate administration company, especially if the estate is complex or taxable.
The role of the Executor/Administrator is to gather in the deceased’s assets, pay any outstanding debts and then distribute the estate. It may involve the following tasks:
- Applying for probate
- Dealing with HMRC
- Completing tax returns (inheritance tax, income tax, capital gains tax)
- Selling property and other assets
- Closing bank accounts
- Dealing with shares and investments
- Dealing with pensions
- Dealing with utilities
- Arranging specialist insurance cover for an empty property
- Producing estate accounts
If you are looking to appoint a professional Executor in your Will, or you are an Executor and would like help in dealing with an estate, help is at hand. Estuary Wills has partnered with Kings Court Trust to provide a fully comprehensive estate administration service, offered on a guaranteed fixed-price basis.
Kings Court Trust (KCT) is a specialist estate administration company with strong values, ethics and principles. They ONLY deal with estate administration, and they do it really, really well!
Over the years, KCT has helped thousands of families just like yours – they deal with all sorts of estates, large and small, and have a fantastic team on hand to offer advice and support whenever you need it. You’ll be able to check on the progress of your case at any time, either by using the online tracker system, or by speaking to your dedicated personal estate adviser assigned to you.
Unlike banks and solicitors, who almost always charge by a set percentage of an estate’s value (irrespective of the level of work involved), Kings Court Trust’s fees are fair and transparent, and are based on the actual level of work required to administer the estate. In some cases, this can literally end up saving you thousands of pounds in fees, as you will only pay for the services that you need. Executors themselves do not need to worry about paying any fees upfront, as they are typically taken from the estate, and only once there are sufficient funds available within the estate to cover them.
A fixed-price quote can be obtained in just a few minutes – contact Sarah Collier-Smith on 01702 746152
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