JMD Law

We are passionate about the law and procedure relating to Probate and Estates, a very complicated area where expert advice should always be sought at the earliest possible stage. We are the Experts with years of experience in this area and with the highest qualified and experienced staff. 

For the best quality advice at a very affordable price, now is the time to call Nick O'Sullivan LLB (Hons) on 02920 456780.

When someone dies, in order to deal with their Estate (e.g., obtain access to their Bank Accounts, sell assets such as their house, cash in life assurance polices, sell shares and distribute their estate to those who are entitled), someone will need to go through the process of obtaining a “Grant of Representation” or as it is commonly known “Probate”.  This can be a difficult and time consuming process if handled incorrectly especially given the declarations that have to be given to the Probate Court and the HM Revenue & Customs and the penalties if those declarations are wrong.  Whether or not Tax has to be paid, certain detailed and complicated Tax forms have to be completed as well as the main application to the Probate Registry.

There can be so many questions, such as;

• where do I start?
• Is the Will valid?
• I can't find a Will
• There is no Will, what happens if no one knows what to do?
• If there is no Will, how do we know who is entitled to what?
• I'm an Executor; what must I do?
• What is Probate and do we need it?
• Who pays the Deceased's debts?
• How do I deal with the Deceased's property and savings?
• Who pays the funeral bill?
• The Bank will not let me have access to the Deceased's accounts
• Does Tax have to be paid?
• Can I lessen the amount of tax to be paid?
• The Deceased set up a Trust in her/his Will.  What should I do about that?

any many more.

We can help you with all these questions and guide you through what is often the maze of applying for Probate and dealing with an Estate and its administration.

Contentious Probate

This is the area of law dealing with disputes relating to someone’s Will, their Estate, the administration of that Estate and issues concerning Trusts.  It often involves a court case or threat of a court case between the parties.  Issues arise out of the following questions:

• We don’t want certain people arranging the funeral;
• We can’t agree on the funeral arrangements;
• We want to deal with the affairs of the Deceased, but others are interfering;
• I don't think the Will is what the Deceased wanted;
• I don’t think the Will is right;
• The Will does not make sense and we cant agree who should have what;
• The Will has not been signed by the Deceased or been properly witnessed;
• I don’t think the Deceased knew what s/he was doing when s/he made the Will because of his/her mental state at the time.  What can I do about it?
• I think the Deceased was forced into making the Will in the terms s/he did because of undue influence from another.  What can I do about that?
• I don’t think the Deceased made the Will of his/her own free volition;
• It’s not right that certain people should be entitled to a share of the Estate; they hadn’t seen or cared for the Deceased for years.  What is their position?;
• Other people have been into the Deceased’s house and taken things out of it;
• Certain people wont remove their effects from the house;
• The wrong people are dealing with the estate;
• The Executors won’t let us see the Will;
• The Executors wont talk to us;
• The Executors / Administrators of the Estate are not doing it properly / have taken assets to which they are not entitled / are taking far too long to give me my share;
• My son or daughter received nothing or too little from their father when he died;
• We should have been left more;
• Other people are saying they have rights to the Estate but we don’t think so;
• Even though not mentioned in the Will, can we still make a claim under the Estate, e.g. for my children as the deceased was their natural or step father?;
• The Gardener or Carer or employee of the Deceased is not in the Will so how come they think they can make a claim against the Estate? (Estoppel claims);
• The Deceased was killed by a beneficiary in the Will.  Will they still be entitled to their share of the Estate?;
• S/he only married the Deceased for her/his money.  What can we do about it?;
• The house owned by the Deceased should go to the persons set out in the Will but his ex-partner is claiming a share because the house was held as Joint Tenants.  Can he do so?;

All these issues can lead to disagreement in the manner in which the Estate is dealt.  Our job is to guide you through the process.  It is not always to sue; that’s a recourse of last resort.  Rather, it’s to understand the issues and background, explain to you the legalities, advise you of the consequences of certain actions and then try and resolve the issues, with your best interests at heart, with all the parties concerned in the hope of avoiding what can be costly and expensive legal proceedings. 

The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975

The law will not always interfere with the wishes of a Deceased in deciding what to leave to whom.  It often protects the principle that “an Englishman’s home is his castle” and his right to leave his castle to whomever he so pleases.  After all, its his hard earned money and he should decide who gets it on his death.  There is one noteable exception to that rule and this Act is it.  It says that certain persons may apply to a court because the  deceased, whether he has left a Will or not, did not make reasonable financial provision for that person.  The persons allowed to make such a claim include;

• the wife or husband of the deceased;
• a former wife or former husband of the deceased who has not remarried;
• any person who for a full 2 year period endng immediately before the date when the deceased died, was living in the same household as the deceased, and as the husband or wife of the deceased;
• a child of the deceased;
• any person (not being a child of the deceased) who, in the case of any marriage to which the deceased was at any time a party, was treated by the deceased as a child of the family in relation to that marriage;
• any person who immediately before the death of the deceased was being maintained, either wholly or partly, by the deceased;