Most estates have to go through probate, whether you leave a will or not. It ensures the deceased estate passes to the right people and all tax due on death is identified and collected.

If your estate is over five thousand pounds, a Grant of Probate must be obtained before it can be collected for distribution. This means the will must be formally recognised at the local Probate Registry.

All banks, building Societies and insurance companies will insist on seeing a Grant of Probate before they pay out and your house will not be able to be sold. If your estate is worth more than £300,000 it may be liable to Inheritance Tax and you would be wise to enlist the help of a professional.

If you are acting as an executor in a will then you are personally liable for any debts, so professional advice is essential.

As an executor in one of our wills you have the following options when dealing with the estate:

1. Ask a local bank or solicitor to complete the probate for you

• They will charge for their services and you could pay £2000 - £5000 just for a simple estate.  Ask for a quotation before any work is started.

2. Ask WDS Associates & Co Ltd to complete the work for you.

• All our clients have access to our probate services with a massive reduction in fees.
• After you have obtained your quotation from your bank or solicitor telephone us with the details and receive a discount of up to 50% on the fees. For a full list of discounts and reduced prices see the bottom of this page.

3. Do the work yourself with our help.

• If you wish to complete the work yourself, subscribing clients have access to our free advisory service.
• Complete as much as you can and then arrange to visit one of our offices where an experienced consultant will help to complete the paperwork for you free of charge.

If you need to apply for probate and would like to print out the applications, click on the links below and print them out. You need to have acrobat reader installed on your computer. Any problems then telephone us on 0800 056 2015 and we can post these out to you. 

	Probate Application (PA1)
	Guidance notes For Probate Application Form PA1
	How to obtain Probate - A guide for the applicant acting without a solicitor (PA2)
	Need the probate address or telephone ~ click here
	Download Adobe Acrobat Reader