I would always strongly advise you make a Will in any event regardless of your financial or family circumstances.
When there is no Will made before someone passes away, administering their estate can be far more complex and there may need to be involvement of experts such as genealogists to establish a family tree for example. This can be very expensive and time consuming at an already very difficult time for the parties involved.
Should an individual pass away without leaving a Will and require a grant to administer the estate, the person or persons entitled to apply for the grant will be one or more of the individual’s entitled to inherit the estate under the intestacy rules. You can find guidance on such rules here: Intestacy - who inherits if someone dies without a will?. Should the persons entitled to the estate under these rules be a minor (under the age of eighteen) then you should seek legal advice from a specialist in this area.
The grant when there is no Will is known as a grant of letters of administration. The personal representative named on the grant is known as the administrator of the estate rather than the executor as would be appointed under a Will.
A grant is required in the estate when there are significant assets in the deceased’s name such as a property or a high value investment/bank account. The asset holder such as the bank will normally inform you as to whether they require a grant to release funds.
If you would like further information regarding this please feel free to contact us on 0161 696 6238 and we will be happy to discuss, without charge, how we can help, with no obligation to go ahead with the service.
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