Only a few specific types of people can claim under the Inheritance Act 1975. Inheritance Provision for Family and Dependents Act The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 is a law that protects people who are financially dependent on another person when they die. The Act allows some people to claim against a

The probate process can take between 6 months and a year, even longer depending on the complexity of the case. The probate process begins from the date of a person’s death to the estate being distributed. Once a Grant of Probate has been issued, the average timescale for an estate to be distributed is six

A lasting power of attorney is a legal document allowing someone to make decisions on your behalf, should you lack the capacity to do so yourself or no longer want to. There are many reasons why you might want (or need) someone to make decisions for you, including: Temporarily: if you are in hospital and

The Court of Protection is administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service. It is responsible for a range of decisions based on a person’s financial and or welfare matters if, at the time when it is required, they do not have sufficient ‘mental capacity’. What can the Court of Protection decide? If the Court of

When somebody dies, it is essential that their assets, including finances and property, are distributed. If the person left a Will, it would be the responsibility of the executor (named in the Will) to administer the estate according to the contents of the Will.  Estate administration involves:  Gathering information about a person’s asset information, including

You may have to apply for probate if you are named as an executor in someone’s Will. Having applied for probate, you will have the authority to share the deceased’s estate according to their Will’s instructions. It is not necessary to apply for probate in all cases. Do I need to apply for probate? Depending

What is causing the delays for Probate applications? Most recent applications to the probate registry for grants of representation are being delayed. In March 2019, the government introduced new IT systems to digitalise the court procedure for grant applications. According to the probate court, due to a new database being implemented there has been significant