The process of proving and processing of the will in the court of law. There is an executor of the will is appointed who will see to that the will is administered as per the will of the deceased person. The executor will have to get a legal document known as the grant of the probate which is enough proof that they can go on to administer the will as per the legality of the will. The application to be an executor is checked by the probate registry.
The executor of the will can either be
- Individual
- Trustee company
When it is decided who the executor will be the assets and funds of the deceased will handed over to the trustee. If there isn’t a will but some letters of administration, then they can be used for the grant of probate. The executor has to apply to the probate office of the highest court of the country, if approved the executor can have the power to administer the will. Here they check whether
- The author of the will is no longer surviving.
- The will authentic
- The executor is the same person as stated in the will
The probate process involves the following
- The need to identify all the assets owned by the deceased ranging from property, investments and other possessions. The liabilities are also looked into which could be loans, debts and even utility bills. The valuation process also takes place in this phase.
- There are definite measures taken to see that entitlement is verified according to the will.
- There is a tax that has to be paid, which is also known as the inheritance tax.
- When there has been grant of representation, there are times when the assets have to be liquidated to repay the liabilities left behind by the deceased person along with paying for
- Administration expenses of the estate
- Payment of inheritance tax
- Income tax or capital gains tax that was due
- A proper documentation of all the accounts of the estate which shows the right balance which is then left for the beneficiaries after all the above id deducted. The approval has to be sought from the executor of the will after this is seen to.
- If there are no contenders for the will execution, then there will the next process which will carried out, that is of transferring the assets to the rightful inheritors of the will.
When the probate is needed
The need to probate arises when the deceased has property which may consist of
- Houses
- Buildings
- Land
There is a need of grant of representation from the bank where the deceased has an account which has an amount beyond a specified threshold. When you seek a counsel for all that is required for the probate to be inherited. The services of the counsel will include the following
- Seeking the grant of probate
- Dealing with the legalities
- Tax regarding the will
- Property issues
- Estate administration affairs
This will free the inheritor from running around so many offices to get the required documents, filing applications and filing forms.