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Our wills and probate solicitors ensure your estate is distributed accordingly.
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Need help from a will and probate solicitor in London or Brighton?
Call, email or provide us with a few details of your wills and probate matter, and we’ll help you arrange an initial consultation. You’ll get:
- Unlimited time to discuss your matter with an experienced wills and probate solicitor
- An outline of your legal position in your wills and probate case
- A clear fee-quote and time frame to resolve your case
Contesting A Will
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Contesting A Will
Court of Protection
Lasting Powers of Attorney
Probate
Trusts
Wills
Commonly asked questions on wills and probate.
The law surrounding wills and probate is important as it essentially deals with the distribution of your estate when the time comes. However, this area of law can become very complicated. Therefore, our wills and probate solicitors have answered some of the most commonly asked questions surrounding the topic.
1. Why do I need a will?
Making a will ensures that your estate is distributed in line with your wishes. Some wishes that you can account for in your will include:
- How your assets are distributed
- Who will inherit from your estate
- Funeral plans
- Provisions for your children
- Naming the executor who deals with probate
If you don’t have a valid will, any unaccounted assets will follow the intestacy rules. Under the intestacy rules, your estate can be inherited by your spouse, civil partner and a few other relatives. In a circumstance where nobody is eligible to inherit through the intestacy rules, your entire estate will pass to the crown.
2. How do I make a will?
With Britton and Time, you can get your will in four easy steps, which are:
1. Contact us. Please speak to a member of our team on 020 3007 5500, who will briefly discuss your estate and give you a price estimate for your will, arrange a consultation, and send you a wills questionnaire.
2 Consultation. In this consultation, you can go through your wills questionnaire with our solicitor and discuss your wishes.
3. Draft your will. Following your consultation, our wills and probate solicitors will draft your will accordingly.
4 Completion. Finally, our wills and probate solicitors can organise the will signing. Once your will is complete, we can store your will and register it on the National Wills Register free of charge.
3. What is probate?
Once the time comes, probate is needed to legally validate the deceased’s will and deal with their estate. Dealing with someone’s estate refers to distributing any assets to the will’s beneficiaries and clearing any outlying debts.
When there is a valid will, the named executor is the only person who can apply for probate. In a circumstance where there is no valid will, the person who can apply for probate is the most ‘entitled’ inheritor under the intestacy rules.
4. When is probate needed?
On average, around 50% of deaths in the UK require probate. When understanding whether or not probate is needed, there are two questions you need to ask yourself, which are:
1. What’s the value of the estate?
In an instance where the estate’s value is below £50,000, it’s likely that you don’t need to apply for probate. When an estate is valued below £50,000 it can be classed as a ‘small estate’, which means many banks are willing to release the funds and assets without seeing a formal grant of probate.
2. Are any assets jointly owned?
When assets in an estate are jointly owned, the assets will automatically pass to the surviving co-owner. Therefore, in this case, you won’t need to apply for probate, you’ll just need a copy of the death certificate. However, you may still need to apply for probate in some circumstances. For example, if some of the assets were solely owned by the deceased, such as pensions.
If you are unsure whether you need to apply for probate, please call one of our specialist probate solicitors on 020 3007 5500, and we can help.
5. Why use a wills and probate solicitor?
Wills and probate law is important as it deals with the distribution of a deceased’s estate. A mistake in either of these processes can result in avoidable but costly mistakes. Therefore, if you’re looking to make your will or apply for probate, it’s vital to use a solicitor who specialises in wills and probate law.
Our wills and probate solicitors always guarantee:
- Your will is drafted correctly
- The likelihood of your will being contested is minimised
- Probate is dealt with correctly
- The deceased’s assets are distributed in line with their wishes
- Your legal stress is eliminated
To contact one of our wills and probate solicitors, please call us on 020 3007 5500.
Need help from a wills and probate solicitor in London or Brighton?
Tell us about your case and we’ll get back to you the same day.
Meet our expert wills and probate team.
Elisabeth Squires
Head of Private Client
Darian Wielink
Paralegal
Why Britton and Time Solicitors?
Wills and probate law is our bread and butter, and our solicitors have worked on many wills and probate cases varying in complexity. Regardless of your matter, we’ll always guarantee:
Award-Winning Service.
You are our priority, and the law is our speciality. Our award-winning wills and probate solicitors in London and Brighton ensure you know exactly where you stand from a legal perspective so you can make a well-informed decision.
Full Billing Transparency.
No fee surprises. Ever. Our wills and probate solicitors will inform you from the outset on how much your case will cost, and we will do everything in our power to keep costs down and within your original fee estimate.
Regular Communication.
With fortnightly updates on your case, you’ll never be left in the dark. Our wills and probate solicitors in London and Brighton ensure you know exactly how your case is progressing and are with you every step of the way.
Our reviews.
It’s not about how good we think our services are; it’s about what you think.
There are three things that make Britton & Time, and in particular Paul, stand apart from other law firms: knowledge, communication and a will to win.
Rated excellent by over 95% of our clients.
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Need help from a wills and probate solicitor in London or Brighton?
Call, email or provide us with a few details of your matter, and we’ll be able to help you the same day.