Frequently Asked Questions

The Executors or Administrators are responsible for the accurate distribution of the estate. This means that if you are named in either role, you will assume legal and financial liability for all of the work that is involved. Should any mistakes be made in the administration process, you will be personally responsible for rectifying them. If you appoint Kings Court Trust, we assume all of these liabilities on your behalf.

Probate (or confirmation in Scotland) is often required to enable a person’s estate to be distributed after their death. It is often used as a generic term to refer to the entire estate administration process. Probate is sometimes not required – for example, if all assets are held in joint names or if the estate that has been left is worth less than £5,000. However, the vast majority of estates do require Probate.

Estate administration is the process of dealing with a person’s estate after they’ve died. This normally means dealing with all of their assets (such as property and personal possessions) and liabilities (such as outstanding debts) before transferring whatever is left to the beneficiaries.

Read our guide to estate administration.

If there was no Will in place when the person died, they are said to have died ‘intestate’ and the estate will be distributed in line with the rules of intestacy. A close relative of the deceased will be able to apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration from a probate registry. They then become administrators of the estate and have the same legal responsibility as an executor for its distribution.

The Executor named in the Will will need to apply for a Grant of Probate from a probate registry. The Grant of Probate is the document that provides the legal authority that is required to deal with the estate.

Yes, you can. Estate administration is a time consuming and labour intensive process, one where 80% of clients tell us that they underestimated how much work was involved. If you are considering doing the work yourself, you should be confident that you can:
• Complete all of the legal work, tax calculations and paperwork and spare several hours a week to administer the estate from start to finish
• Contact all of the third parties involved in the administration processes
• Take on legal and financial liability for the process

We recommend that you seek professional legal advice but this doesn’t need to be from a solicitor. In fact, many solicitors only deal with a small number of estates each year and therefore don’t possess specialist knowledge of this area of the law. Kings Court Trust can offer free legal guidance with no obligation – contact us if you have any questions.

Estate administration is a long and complex legal process, so expect it to take months rather than weeks. As each estate is different, it is almost impossible to tell how long the process will take without knowing more about the specific nature of the estate. We offer one of the most efficient services available.

Kings Court Trust holds client monies in segregated and separate client accounts with strictly controlled access. In the extraordinarily unlikely event of our ceasing to trade, our regulator takes on responsibility for estate completion/client monies. Our client monies are independently audited by our auditors and our regulator on an annual basis. We have been in business 15 years and of course, have professional indemnity insurance. In fact, we don’t need to be regulated but have chosen to be so to ensure consumers get the protection of our regulator in addition to access to the Legal Services Ombudsman for any services issues, should they arise.