PROBATE
Obtaining probate after the death of a loved one is often too distressing for some and we at Maleys will make it easier for you by taking care of all the necessary documentation and lodging all the relevant forms and documents with the Court.
Probate (or more specifically 'probate of the Will') is an official form that gives the executors of the Will the right to deal with the assets and property of the deceased person. When you show the probate form to a bank, for example, they know they are dealing with the person who has the right to handle the estate, and they will allow you to withdraw money from the deceased person's account.
When you apply for probate, you are promising the Probate Court that you will administer the estate as set out in the Will and according to law. If you don't do this, you will be in trouble with the court (and with the people who should benefit from the Will). Probate makes sure that the executors carry out their task properly.
When there is no Will (or no executors are named in the Will, or the executors have died), the official form is called 'letters of administration'.
In some cases, you don't need to apply for probate. When:
- the person who has died left very little and no real assets;
- everything they owned was held in joint names with someone to whom their share passes automatically (normally a husband or wife); or
- any bank or building society accounts that the person had contains very little.
However, you will need to apply for probate if the person who died had:
- a bank, building society or National Savings account with saving in it;
- stocks or shares; or
- property or land (unless it is owned as a joint tenancy and so passes automatically to the other owner).
You may have to apply for probate if the person had any life insurance or term insurance policies that are paid to the estate. Some policies say that they will be paid straight to the beneficiaries of the policy (rather than to the estate), and you do not need probate for these.
In most cases where there is no Will you must apply for 'letters of administration', which serve the same purpose as probate. You apply for a grant of letters of administration in the same way you would apply for probate. However, as with probate, you may not have to apply for letters of administration if the person's estate was not worth very much.
