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11 January 2023

Susan Jacobs is from Liverpool. Last year, after her father passed away, she and her sister (who now lives in Canada) inherited his property in Sussex but discovered that selling a probate property is not straightforward. “To be honest, we were totally lost. It was bad enough that our father died, but then we found ourselves suddenly overwhelmed by complex legal processes that were horribly stressful and put a real strain on my relationship with my sister” Susan told us.

 

Aside from the probate process being complex and time-consuming, Susan discovered how many expenses and fees are required to sell a probate property, ranging from payment to estate agents or auction houses, to lawyers and valuers, as well as taxes and maintenance fees. Although executors or administrators of the estate are usually in charge of paying these costs from the assets of the estate, if the estate’s funds are inadequate, it may be necessary to sell other assets or borrow money to cover these expenses adding to the emotional stress of losing a loved one, making the probate process even more difficult to navigate.

02 September 2021

A recent case in the High Court has provided insight into the opinion of the court in relation to professional executors who refuse to renounce their executorship.

The case led to the law firm, WAG Davidson and Co., being refused permission to make further appeal against an unfavourable first-instance ruling and being ordered to pay £25,000 in legal fees.

19 March 2021

A recent survey by Direct Line Life Insurance revealed that 38% of respondents did not know where their partner or spouse held financial assets and 66% were unaware of where their parents held their wealth.

In a society increasingly turning to online and paperless services, this means that, when a loved one dies, the evidence of assets might be extremely sparse or even non-existent: the paper trail might not be there.

10 December 2020

Cross-border probate can seem like a very complicated area of law, particularly for families in the midst of grief and all the accompanying uncertainties that are an inherent part of the administration of a deceased person’s estate.

However, to avoid the possibility of such uncertainty and, potentially, probate disputes, those with cross-border estates should make a comprehensive Will or Wills covering what should to all of their assets across all jurisdictions.

03 December 2020

Covid-related probate service delays are unfortunately very common at the moment, with many bereaved families and executors facing delays of 12 weeks or more as a result of the global health pandemic.

This is likely to be a stressful experience for all families, but some relatives may be able to weather the experience of delays more securely than others. In fact, for some families delays to the grant of probate can be catastrophic, particularly if the estate is also accruing interest on outstanding debts and those affected find themselves grappling with questions of liability for this interest.

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