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Two Together: Save £100!
Save £100 when you purchase two funeral plans together. Call us for more details.
Buy now, pay in January
Buy your funeral plan today and pay in January for peace of mind this Christmas. Click here for full T&Cs.
12 minute read
Having to contend with all of the documentation and admin that can arise following the death of a loved one is often one of the hardest parts of the process. One of the trickiest parts of all is applying for probate. In this article, we will explain how to apply for probate with a will, and we will answer other connected questions, too.
We would also just like to say that, if you’ve found us here because you are the executor of a recently deceased loved one’s estate, we know that you might be facing a difficult time. Aura is here to help: we are the UK’s top-rated ‘Cremation Services’ provider on Trustpilot with a score of 4.9/5 stars, and we offer our funeral services to those looking for a direct cremation in the near future, and to those looking to the future with a prepaid funeral plan for themselves.
Before thinking about how to apply for probate with a will, it’s important to take the time to understand what probate is, and when it is necessary.
Probate (called ‘Confirmation’ in Scotland) is the legal right to execute the estate of someone who has died. It needs to be granted to the executor named in the will before they are able to start settling any debts and disbursing any assets. When probate is granted, it gives legal certainty to every decision relating to the estate which is taken by the executor.
Probate is usually one of the most important things that need to be done when someone dies. It will be required if the family intends to pay funeral expenses out of the value of the estate before the money can be accessed. It may also be needed in order to handle certain administrative matters relating to the financial dealings of the person who has died. For instance, in order to close bank accounts after a death, transfer funds, or cancel subscriptions. The transference of property rights is also likely to require probate.
Should property or bank accounts be held in joint ownership between the person who has died and someone else – their husband or wife, for instance – then probate is probably not likely for any changes that need to be made.
There could potentially be a number of people who are eligible to apply for probate with a will.
Ordinarily the executor of the will applies for probate – the legal right to administer the estate as they see fit, in accordance with the will. It is possible for more than one person to be named as an executor in the will. In this case, they will need to agree among themselves unanimously who will apply for probate.
If you have been named as the executor but you are unwilling or unable to apply for probate, you can appoint someone else to apply for it on your behalf. You can also appoint an attorney for that purpose. In some cases, the executor themselves may die before they are able to apply for probate and execute the will. In this case, a court-appointed deputy, someone with power of attorney over the executor, or one of the beneficiaries of the will can seek to apply for probate.
The executor will need to find the original will, and use it to estimate the full value of the estate. This information will be needed in their application for probate and for understanding what inheritance tax may be due. They will also need to submit other documentation along with it, proving who they are and how they are connected to the person who has died. If there is more than one executor named in the will, the applicant for probate will also need to prove that they have attempted to contact all other listed executors to that end as part of the application, to satisfy the court that there is no dispute on this point.
There are key documents to source and certain things to bear in mind when filling in the application for probate.
Before applying for probate the executor needs to register the death, and receive their Death Certificate, which details their cause of death, among other things. The executor will likely need to submit a copy of the Death Certificate along with the other paperwork.
Depending on the size and value of the estate, you may wish to seek legal advice regarding inheritance tax matters, and, if you intend to use the estate to pay for the cost of the funeral, advice on what expenses are considered to be tax deductible. If you are the named executor of someone’s estate, you may wish to start a funeral checklist in order to keep track of everything as you go.
You can apply for probate, if you have a will for the person who has died, by filling in form PA1P from the UK Government website. But you will need to wait for HMRC to send you a specific code before you begin, and you will need to begin paying inheritance tax, too.
You may need to pay a probate application fee as part of the process, and then wait for the grant to be approved.
Whether or not you need to pay a fee to apply for probate depends on the value of the estate that is left behind. If the estate’s value is lower than £5,000, then there is no fee due to apply. However, applications for probate concerning estates valued at more than £5,000 will cost £300 to complete. It may be possible to get help with these fees, or to claim funeral costs back from the government in certain circumstances.
In order to pay the fee of applying for probate, if applicable, there are several potential methods available to you:
It may also be possible to pay the fee yourself and then to reimburse yourself out of the estate. Once you may be able to use funds within the bank account of the person who has died to pay the cost of probate, depending on whether their bank requires probate first before giving you access. You can also set up an ‘Executor’s account’ in the estate’s name, which can be used to pay estate-related fees.
The UK government states that, once you’ve applied, you should receive the grant of probate within 16 weeks of submission, but that it can take longer depending on whether any additional evidence is requested. It can take anything from between a few weeks to a year or more in Scotland to receive confirmation. Only once you have received the grant of probate can you begin to administer the estate.
For this reason, it can sometimes be a risky strategy to rely on the estate to pay funeral costs; in the meantime, the family will need to foot the bill, only to seek reimbursement from the estate later. As we can see, this reimbursement may be a long time coming. A funeral plan allows families to pay for everything in advance, meaning that families have real peace of mind around funeral arrangements, when the time comes.
There may be certain circumstances in which it is possible to contest an application for probate.
If you have good grounds, you may be able to contest an executor’s application for probate. In general, the grounds relate to the propriety of the will itself. Some common reasons for wanting to contest an application for probate are as follows:
You can use a legal device called a ‘caveat’ in order to contest a probate application. You can apply online to enter a caveat against a probate application. The fee is £3, and you will need to provide:
You may wish to seek legal advice before proceeding with this course of action, or some guidance from the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.
One working day after a caveat is lodged, the probate application will be halted for 6 months, with the possibility of extending the delay by a further 6 months. The executor and the caveator (the party challenging the probate application) will need to try to resolve matters within this time among themselves. Should this be completed successfully, the caveator can withdraw their challenge, and the probate application can resume.
The executor in response to a caveat, assuming no mutual agreement has been reached during the down time, can issue what’s called a ‘warning’. This can set the parties on the path to unavoidable legal action in court, as it can lead to a ‘permanent caveat’. If you are the applying executor, your warning should detail why you are entitled to apply for probate. The caveator then has 14 days to respond to it.
In response, they can either enter an ‘appearance’, if they think that they have the right to apply under an earlier or later will than the one you are using to apply for probate, or, if there is no will, that you do not have the right to apply for probate. Alternatively, in response to your warning, they can enter a ‘summons’, if they think they are equally entitled to apply for probate under the same will, or if they deny that you are a suitable executor.
If the probate Registrar agrees with the caveator’s ‘appearance’, then they will make the caveat permanent, and it can only be removed by order of a District Probate Registrar, High Court Judge or District Judge. If they issue a ‘summons’ then the Registrar will decide among the two parties who has the right to apply for probate.
In situations where legal action is taken, the loser of that action will likely be liable for the costs of both parties, so make sure to take advice before proceeding.
Once probate has been secured, the executor has various responsibilities, and will also need to close the estate.
Once the right of probate has been granted, the executor will need to begin the process of enacting the wishes of the person who has died. This will include the responsibility of disbursing their assets to the beneficiaries of the will, according to what has been specified in the document. Before that, they will likely need to gather together the assets, accessing them and discharging them. This could include funds within bank accounts, property, investments, and moveable assets, like vehicles or art. These wishes could also relate to the funeral itself, or any end-of-life celebration ideas for after.
They will need to settle the debts of the estate, too, if there are any. This could include certain funeral expenses, or loans and mortgages.
When closing the estate, you may need to document any and all of the following relating to the finances of the estate, where applicable:
You can apply for a clearance certificate from the UK government to show that you have paid all of the inheritance tax due from the estate. You will need to submit the final accounts of the estate to HMRC in order to receive this, which will likely include at least some of the points listed above. The executor of the will could be found personally liable if any of this information is incorrect, so it is extremely important to be meticulous in recording the information as you go.
We hope that this article has helped you feel more comfortable with estate-related admin. If you’re currently organising a funeral for a loved one, we want you to feel as comfortable and as well informed as can be. If you’d like Aura’s help with funeral arrangements, whether in the here and now or as part of a prepaid funeral plan for the future, our Aura Angels are always ready to take your call.
If you have any questions on funeral-related admin, or about direct cremation in general, they’re here to support as much as is needed.
