Estate Administration: Should I Handle it Myself?
After a death, family members sometimes decide to deal with probate and estate administration themselves. It is important to ask the question ‘Should I handle Estate Administration myself?’. We take a look at the potential risks involved and why it can be advantageous to ask a professional to take on the job instead.
When someone dies their executor or administrator is responsible for winding up their affairs and distributing the net estate to the beneficiaries. The executor or administrator can take on the work themselves or ask a probate solicitor to deal with it. There is a substantial amount of work involved. This includes, valuing the estate, filling in Inheritance Tax forms, calculating and paying Inheritance Tax, collecting estate assets and preparing detailed estate accounts.
Do I have time?
Winding up an estate can be exceptionally time-consuming. Large amounts of correspondence and paperwork must be dealt with. Someone already working full time, and with other responsibilities may find it difficult to set aside the hours needed to deal with the administration promptly.
Generally, matters need to be completed within a year, unless there is a good reason for being unable to do so. Inheritance Tax must be paid by the end of the sixth month after the death. While this may seem like plenty of time, asset holders can take a while to provide information.
The Probate Registry often takes several months to deal with an application for a Grant of Probate or a Grant of Letters of Administration.
Am I prepared to take on the risk?
As estate executor or administrator, you are held personally liable for any errors which cause a loss to the estate. This applies even in the event of a genuine and inadvertent mistake. For example, if Inheritance Tax is wrongly calculated or paid late and a penalty is imposed. You are liable to pay this yourself.
Also, consider taking the right precautions to limit your risk. Arrange for statutory advertisements to be placed in the press, requesting creditors and unknown beneficiaries to come forward. Without this, you could again be liable for paying creditors who were not initially aware of the death. Additionally, you may also be liable for paying beneficiaries who missed out on their inheritance because they had not been identified.
Do I have the capacity to deal with the administration?
Estate administration always comes at a very difficult time for those close to the deceased. Managing the difficulties of winding up someone’s affairs while also coping with the emotional burden is hard as well as stressful. Also, other family members may make the process harder. If there are differing opinions on how the administration should be dealt with, or they impose pressure to carry it out more quickly. Relationships can deteriorate and disagreements could arise.
Professional estate administration
The alternative is to ask a professional probate solicitor to deal with the estate administration on your behalf. They have the time and the expertise to ensure that it is dealt with as quickly and efficiently as possible.
They can eliminate any risks by meeting deadlines, placing statutory advertisements as necessary and making sure that the tax affairs are dealt with accurately. Having a professional deal with the winding up of someone’s affairs substantially reduces the scope for family disagreements. The cost of professional estate administration is paid from the estate.
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