Guide to Estate Administration

GUIDE TO ESTATE ADMINISTRATION

Establish the location of any current Will appointing you executor. You must check that you have the most recent will and you need to ensure you are still entitled to act as there could be a later will, or the original may have been altered by a codicil

If there is unoccupied property, secure it and ensure that mains services (gas, electricity, water) are safe, deliveries stopped, and mail redirected if necessary. Check insurance of important assets (eg house contents)

Register the death (within five days, unless an inquest and/or post mortem is necessary) with the Registrar for the area where it occurred.

Advise family and friends of the death, arrange funeral in accordance with any known wishes (refer to the Will), and (optionally) arrange obituary notices in local press.

Ascertain assets and liabilities and their date-of-death values by sending a certified copy death certificate to any assumed asset-holder (building society, bank, insurance company etc) and, if there might be tax to pay, obtain professional valuations of any significant property (stock market investments, coin collections etc).

Stop payment of any salary or pension; advise issuers of passport, driver’s or TV license, credit/charge cards, etc, and act on their directions.

Contact the deceased’s tax office to settle tax affairs up to the date of death.

Inform beneficiaries of their entitlement, giving those entitled to the residue of the estate information regarding the assets and liabilities and providing them with a copy of the Will.

Ascertain the Inheritance Tax (IHT) position. IHT is not payable on smaller estates, currently those under £325,000 (tax year 2009/10), a figure which may be enhanced by gifts to charity or spouse. If in doubt, seek professional assistance.

Unless the estate can be dealt with informally under the Small Estates Act or as detailed below, prepare probate forms (obtainable from a Probate Registry or www.theprobateservice.gov.uk) , including, if applicable, an Inland Revenue Account (obtainable from the Capital Taxes Office or www.hmrc.gov.uk/cto) for IHT purposes. A Grant of Probate may not be necessary if the estate is small and organizations are prepared to release money at their discretion or the whole of the estate is held in joint names and passes automatically to the surviving joint owner, however a Grant of Probate will always be required to sell or transfer a property held in the deceased’s sole name or a share of a property held as tenants-in-common.

If necessary, arrange an executor’s loan account with a bank, to pay IHT which cannot be paid by installments.

Submit completed probate application to Principal/District Probate Registry, with appropriate fee, requesting as many copy grants as you need.

When the grant of representation is obtained, send copy grants with appropriate instructions to asset-holders, and encash assets not specifically bequeathed.

Pay the funeral account (unless already paid, eg by arrangement with the bank) and any other outstanding bills, including tax. If in doubt insert ‘statutory notices to creditors’ in the press, allowing six months for claims to be made.

Pay any legacies and transfer any items bequeathed by the Will. You do not have to wait for probate before transferring bequests, if you are sure that the Will is valid and that no-one else will claim them, otherwise wait for six months.

Pay any administration expenses, and obtain clearance for any Inheritance Tax, administration income tax, or capital gains tax liability.

Having settled any valid claims on the estate, prepare estate accounts and submit them to the residuary beneficiaries. Once approval is obtained, distribute the residue to those entitled, being sure to obtain receipts.

Provide each residuary beneficiary with a tax deduction certificate for each year of administration income.  

In case of difficulty, obtain professional help

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