Wills, Trusts and Probate

Probate

It is never easy losing a loved one, and what’s involved in handling their affairs can be very complicated and overwhelming especially while still grieving. Our team of sympathetic advisers can provide you with all the expert advice you might need to make a start on the next steps. Whilst our panel of probate specialist solicitors can ensure the necessary legal processes are being taken care of.

Probate is the legal process of administering an estate by valuing and selling the deceased’s assets, paying any debts and transferring the remaining money and possessions to the beneficiaries in accordance with their Will or the Rules of Intestacy.

Our Probate Service

Our probate service is provided by our panel of STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) qualified solicitors, which means that they specialise in probate and estate administration. All of the solicitors on our panel are regulated by the SRA (Solicitor Regulation Authority) so you can be assured that your estate is in capable hands.

Our probate experts will talk you through the process and advise you on the next steps to take. After going through our fact find we will provide you with a written fixed fee quote which will not change unless the details of the estate change.

Once you are happy to proceed we will instruct one of our carefully selected STEP qualified solicitors on your behalf. Your dedicated case handler will then carry out the full administration of the estate from contacting the relevant institutions, applying for probate, corresponding with HMRC and calculating the correct amount of Inheritance tax (if applicable) to distributing the estate to the beneficiaries and providing you with the full estates accounts at the end of the process.

Included in Our Probate service

Our probate services are provided by our panel of specially selected solicitors at a competitive and fixed price. When using our probate service you will also receive a full Lifetime Legal membership, which entitles you to a discount on your legal costs for probate and any other legal services you may require alongside as part of the package. A Lifetime Legal membership also includes;

Discounted legal fees on all legal services provided by Lifetime Legal.
Free Standard Will or Mirror Wills
Unlimited access our legal advice service
Free updates to your Will at any point
Secure online document storage
Secure physical fireproof and waterproof storage

Conveyancing for a property subject to probate

Whilst your solicitor is in the process of obtaining a grant of probate you can also start the conveyancing process on any property which is part of the estate. We will arrange for a free probate valuation of the property and provide you with a fixed fee no obligation conveyancing quote which will include your Lifetime Legal member discount. You are not obligated to use the same solicitor for conveyancing that you have used for probate although in most cases this is the simplest and most efficient option. Regardless of who you choose for your conveyancing needs your probate solicitor will provide all the relevant information and work alongside your chosen solicitor.

Fixed fee probate quote

All of the solicitors on our panel work on a fixed rate fee, this fee is based upon the amount of work involved in administering the assets in the estate. Unlike other solicitors we do not charge a percentage of the Estate, this means that in most cases our fees are much more competitive than others.

You will be provided with a quote based upon the information provided in your consultation with one of our probate experts so you will know before any work takes place exactly what the final cost will be.

Lifetime Legal members probate services

If the person who has passed away was a Lifetime Legal member, their estate will automatically be entitled to their member discount, this will be included in the quote we will provide for the estate administration.

The executor does not need to be a member of Lifetime Legal, however, upon instruction they will be provided with;

  • A years free and unlimited access to our legal advice Helpline
  • A free standard single or mirror Wills

If the Will and other important documents are being stored with us these will be released to the executor. If Lifetime Legal are instructed to carry out the estate administration we can also ensure the safe transfer of these documents to the selected solicitor on your behalf to save time.

If you are the executor or administrator of an estate your member discount can be used against our probate services and will be included in the quote that we provide for the estate administration.