Probate Explained
Probate is the legal process that occurs after someone's death. It involves many processes including deciding whether a persons Will is valid or not as well as dealing with any property that the person has left and having it appraised. Probate also deals with the paying of outstanding taxes and debts that they may have had and going through the Will and distributing any assets as described.
Probate is important for many reasons. For example, if any organisations are holding any money then they need to know who to pay. Probate is about dealing with a person's death with somebody being appointed as the executor of the Will as this is the person that will deal with all issues related with the Will.
When a person dies, someone will stand in and deal with their estate which includes any property, money or possessions they had. Dealing with the estate involves distributing any money that was payable on their death, paying off any debts and distributing estate as described in the Will. The person whois named the executor will deal with the distribution of the estate to the right people as stated in the Will.
Probate is essential if you are selling or transferring a property. If the deceased owned a property solely in their name then probate is needed to transfer the owners name from the deceased to one of the beneficiaries' names. It is important to note also that Probate can not be given to anyone under the age of 18.
To apply for a Probate grant you need to obtain the necessary Probate forms, fill them out accordingly and send them back with the death certificate and the original Will. It is a good idea to make copies of any information and documents that you send and to make sure you send it by recorded delivery so you know when it has arrived.
Probate is one of the 3 types of grant representation and issued to the person named in the Will as the executor. The other types are a letter of administration (with will) where there is a valid Will but no executor and a letter of administration where there is no Will and a Will that has been deemed invalid.
If you apply for a grant then you will be required to attend an interview to sign the neccessary documents and confirm that the documents you have given are accurate to the best of your knowledge. The interview is also designed to answer any questions you may have about the process as a whole.
