As of November 2024, it is taking 16 weeks from the day the Probate Registry confirm they are processing your application for them to issue you with a Grant. However, there can be exceptions.

Typically, the registration process takes around 16 weeks. This includes a 4-week waiting period to allow for any objections.

After you have been granted probate, the length of time it will take to administer the estate will depend upon the complexity of the assets.

In theory, you could have as many as you like but in practice, you would not normally have more than four. If you appoint more than one, you do have to say how they are to act: jointly – meaning that any decisions must be taken by all attorneys together; or jointly and severally – meaning that each attorney can make a decision independently of the other. If it is joint and several, the Lasting Powers of Attorney will not end if an attorney can no longer act but if joint, if an attorney can no longer act, the LPA ends.

Yes, this is possible. If the property is jointly owned by you and your spouse, it is essential that the property is held as tenants in common, rather than joint tenants. It is possible for you to leave your spouse a life interest in your half of the property and if your spouse goes into a care home after you die, only half the value of the house is taken into consideration by the local authority when carrying out a financial assessment to see if they had to pay for their own care. It is essential that the life interest trust is properly worded in the will and you should ensure that you consult a specialist solicitor.

No. If you would like to update us of a change by letter, please do so and we can keep this with your will.

Just because you are named in the will as an executor does not mean you have to act as an executor. If you do not want to take on the role of an executor, you can do one of the following: give up all your rights to act as an executor or reserve your right to act as an executor in case you want to be involved in the future.

No. As long as you have mental capacity, you retain control and you can always revoke the power of attorney. With a health and welfare Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), your attorney cannot make decisions for you unless you have lost mental capacity. With a property and financial affairs LPA, your attorney can make decisions for you as soon as it is registered if you choose.

If you are not married or in a civil partnership and you do not make a will then the answer is no. However, assets held in joint names and property held as joint tenants with your partner will pass automatically to them on your death.

If you want to choose someone to make decisions on your health and welfare when you cannot, then yes. That way, you can pick someone you trust and explain to them any preferences you have so that if the day comes when you cannot make those decisions yourself, they have the legal authority to do so on your behalf.

Yes, there's a registration fee charged by the Office of the Public Guardian of £82 per document. However, some individuals might qualify for a fee reduction or exemption based on their financial situation.

General
You (the donor) make a GPA and nominate attorneys to act for you but it ends if you lose capacity or revoke it. This can only be for property and financial affairs.

Enduring
Pre-October 2007, you made an EPA to nominate attorneys to act for you if you lost capacity. This could only be for property and financial affairs. It must be registered at the OPG to be used but can only be registered once the donor loses capacity.

Lasting
Since then, you can make an LPA to nominate attorneys to act for you. This can be for property and financial affairs or for health and welfare. It must be registered at the OPG to be used. The financial LPA can be used as soon as it is registered, the health LPA can only be used if the door has lost capacity.

If the value of the estate is over £5,000 then the application fee for a Grant of Representation is £300. If the value of the estate is less than £5,000 then there is no fee to apply for probate.

If your personal assets are worth over £23,250, you must pay all your care fees (once you fall below that, the local authority will help. The government is looking to make this rise to £86,000 from October 2023). If you own a property jointly with someone else (e.g., your spouse) and they are still living in the property when you go into a care home, the jointly owned property must be disregarded for the purposes of assessing if you can pay for your own care fees. This is called a mandatory disregard. There are several reasons for mandatory disregards and there are also discretionary disregards that the local authority may or may not choose to consider in this process.

If you cannot find the deceased’s will amongst their possessions then you should try contacting:

The deceased’s solicitor. If you are unaware of who the deceased’s solicitor was then you may want to consider contacting solicitors local to the deceased in case they have it.
The deceased’s bank (some people store important documents with their banks).
A will search company.
London Principal Probate Registry If a will is not located then it is assumed that the deceased did not have a will when they died.

An application to the Probate Registry for a Grant of Letters of Administration will need to be made by the next of kin of the deceased.

A Health and Welfare LPA is a legal document that allows you to appoint someone you trust to make decisions about your health and personal welfare if you're unable to do so yourself.

LPAs can be cancelled or changed as long as you have the mental capacity to make that decision. It's essential to inform the Office of the Public Guardian and all relevant parties about any changes.

No. Your family will have no access to your bank accounts and cannot sell your property unless they make an application to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order, which is a costly and lengthy process.

If you do not make a will then the intestacy rules apply on your death. These rules contain a pecking order of who can inherit based on your family situation. This can mean that those who you wish to benefit from your estate could lose out and it could cause considerable hardship to them.

It is a document that amends, but does not replace, an existing will. It can add or remove a clause or clauses in the original will.

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document which allows a person (the donor) to appoint someone or more than one person they trust (attorneys) to make decisions for them when they no longer have the mental capacity to make the decisions themselves. An LPA has to be made while the donor still has the mental capacity to give their consent to it.

A life interest trust will includes a trust which comes into being when the testator (the person whose will it is) dies by putting something (usually a share in a property) in trust for the ‘life tenant’ (usually their partner). The life tenant can benefit from it during their lifetime without legally owning it but the settlor leaves it to the ‘ultimate beneficiary’ (usually their children) in the end and names people to manage the trust (the ‘trustees’, who are usually the same people as the executors of the will).