Q: I have been informed that a distant cousin has died and I am joint executor and sole beneficiary of his Will. I have never had to deal with anything like this before and am at a complete loss what to do. The other executor is a friend of my cousin’s who I don’t know. Please can you advise me?
A: Before you do anything you must obtain the death certificate and register the death. As you will need certified copies of the death certificate for various institutions and agencies before you can go through the probate process, you should obtain multiple copies at the time of registering the death. You will also need the original official, signed Will, to confirm its validity, your role in administering it and your inheritance entitlement. As joint executor you must act on everything with the other executor.
Once you have registered the death and acquired the death certificate and Will, you can apply for Probate. This gives you and the other executor the authority to administer the deceased’s estate. You must also complete Inheritance Tax forms IHT205/IHT400 before Probate can be granted and the estate administered.
‘Administering’ means identifying and dealing with all the assets and debts left by your cousin. Once you have listed all assets, i.e. property, money, investments, pensions, personal belongings, you must get formal valuations for them. Next, notify the relevant banks and institutions who will require death and probate certificates. Before you can transfer your inheritance to yourself you must settle any outstanding bills and loans your cousin had, from the estate, including inheritance tax if any is due. If the assets include property you must transfer the property at the Land Registry.
If you find all this too daunting, with the agreement of the other executor you could engage a solicitor to handle everything and pay their fees from the assets of the estate.
This question has been answered by Ulia Choudhry, a Partner with GHP Legal. If you would like to speak to someone about this or any other legal matter, please visit our website www.ghplegal.com and use the contact us form, or call us on: Wrexham 01978 291456, Llangollen 01978 860313, Oswestry 01691 659194
