It depends on the wording of the will. If there is no alternative beneficiary for that particular gift or legacy named, then that gift will lapse and it will fall into the residue of the estate (ie what is left over after all gifts, tax and other expenses of the estate have been paid). However, this is not always straightforward and there are specific rules which need to be followed.

Every Probate is different and even if you wish to administer the estate yourself, we can provide some initial guidance. Please do get in touch.

Gathering the valuations about the estate can take some time, especially if you are dependent on third parties or are not familiar with the deceased's affairs. However, once you have the required information an application can be made to the Probate Registry (and HMRC if the estate is liable for Inheritance Tax – see below).

If the estate is not going to be subject to Inheritance Tax, then once the application is made to the Probate Registry it can take between 8-12 weeks for the Grant to be produced.

If the estate is going to be taxable, then this will make the estate administration process a lengthier one. This is in part due to the need for HMRC to sign off the account. The Executor will need to submit an inheritance tax return to HMRC and arrange for any tax that is owed to be paid. This process can add an additional 3-4 weeks on top of the 8-12 weeks as above but could also take longer.

An entire estate administration can take anything from six months upwards but it is difficult to provide an exact timescale.

Inheritance Tax is usually payable when the value of an estate exceeds £325,000 however, there are various reliefs which can mean this is not the case and it depends on who the beneficiaries are because they could mean the estate is exempt (such as a surviving spouse or a charity) or the tax rate is reduced.

In simple terms, in order to work out the value of the estate at the date the person died, the value of all the assets (cash, bank accounts,  investments, personal effects, property, cars and anything else owned by the deceased or which they had an entitlement to, such as income from a Trust) needs to be ascertained. Any debts owed by the deceased also need to be taken into consideration, such as mortgages, credit card debt, funeral costs and loans. An Executor also needs to investigate any large financial gifts (in excess of £3,000) that may have been made in the last seven years before the person died and what the person's marital situation was – all these factors can play a part in correctly calculating the value of an estate.

You do not need a solicitor in order to apply for Probate. Some estates are a very simple and straightforward and can be dealt with easily without additional legal help. However, what can appear to be a straight forward estate can turn out to be much more complex. It is therefore worth just speaking to someone to check there is nothing you have missed that may cause additional complexity – especially important as Executors and Administrators are personally responsible for any losses made through errors when administering an estate.

Probate is a term which can be used to describe the administration of an estate (an "estate" here means the property and affairs of a deceased person), but is also used to refer to a Grant of Probate document.

A Grant of Probate (often referred to as the "Grant") is the legal document which confirms the people who are responsible for the estate administration and that the will (and any additional amendments to the will known as "codicils") are the last and final wishes of the person who has died. Once the Grant has been produced by the Probate Registry, it can be used to show banks, investment companies and other places where the deceased had assets, that the people they are dealing with are the ones with the legal responsibility for administering the estate. Not all estates require a Grant.

If there is no will, or the Executors named in the will are not applying for the Grant, then a Grant of Letters of Administration is applied for instead. There are lots of different types of Grant depending on the circumstances, so please do get in touch so that we can advise on your specific situation.

An Executor is a person who has been named in a will as the person responsible for sorting out the deceased's affairs when they die. Executors are also known as Personal Representatives. If you are named as an Executor and you do not wish to act, you can formally step down or not play an active role however, it is important that you haven't done any work towards the administration of the estate before you do this.

If there is no will then someone else can take on the role who would then be referred to as an Administrator. This person could be someone who will be inheriting from the estate (known as a "beneficiary") or even someone who is owed money by the deceased.

An Executor is under an obligation to administer an estate in accordance with the will and in a timely manner. However, not all Executors do this which can result in tensions between Executors and beneficiaries. Where an Executor has not complied with their duties they can be removed from acting.

A will is a legal document which confirms someone's wishes for their property and assets (known as their "estate") after they die.

Wills have to be signed and witnessed in a specific way to make them valid so even though there may be a will found amongst the deceased's paperwork, it is worth getting advice to see if it is actually legally effective.

If someone dies without a will then their estate will be distributed according to the laws of intestacy, which is the default if no formal wishes have been made. This means an estate will get distributed in a particular order to various relatives however, if there is no family at all that can be traced, then the estate may be given to the Crown instead. This is an unusual and rare situation but can still happen.

Please do speak to us if you wish to have advice on a will's validity.