Terms of Business & Privacy Policy
Last updated: 7 October 2026
1. Who operates this website?
The Probate Department is a private information, directory and referral business operated by Stephen Pett, its owner and overall editor. It is not a government department, the Probate Registry or part of HM Courts & Tribunals Service.
Contact: Stephen Pett, The Probate Department, 5 Malcolm Gardens, Polegate, East Sussex BN26 6PN. Telephone: 01323 766766. You can also use our contact form.
2. Information, guidance and professional services
We provide general information about dealing with a death, finding local services, probate and planning ahead, principally for England and Wales.
We are not probate lawyers. Information on this website, in downloads, in our tools or in an informal conversation is general guidance. It is not individual legal, tax, financial or other professional advice. It cannot take account of every circumstance or replace advice from an appropriately qualified professional.
We aim to keep information accurate and useful, but laws, fees, contact details and services can change. Check important information with the relevant official source or professional before acting. Any checklist or automated result is an aid to understanding, rather than a definitive assessment of your position.
If we introduce you to a professional, you decide whether to instruct them. Their services, fees, advice, regulatory status and complaints arrangements are governed by your agreement with them. A referral does not make us your solicitor or estate administrator.
The Professional Will Writer is an associated business operated separately from TPD’s information and directory services. Any estate-planning work offered through that business is subject to its own engagement terms, fees and applicable privacy information. We will make clear which business is providing a service.
3. How TPD is funded
TPD is funded through paid directory listings, advertising, sponsorship and payments from some businesses to which we introduce enquiries. A payment may be a referral fee, commission or a contribution towards marketing costs.
Paid listings may receive greater visibility or priority over free listings. Sponsored content and advertising should be identified as such. Payment for inclusion or prominence is not evidence that a business is better qualified or more suitable for your circumstances.
Our directory and referral contacts do not cover every available provider. Inclusion is not a guarantee of workmanship, professional competence, availability or results. You should check relevant qualifications, authorisation, insurance, prices and terms before instructing a provider.
Where we propose a referral, we will explain any relevant commercial relationship before you decide to proceed. We will not pass your enquiry to a provider without first making clear who will receive it and obtaining your agreement.
4. Directory listings and advertising
These provisions apply to businesses buying or submitting listings, advertising or sponsorship for business purposes. The accepted order or written booking confirmation will specify the service, locations, duration, price, payment frequency and any renewal arrangements. Any specifically agreed variation must be recorded in writing.
A submission or payment alone does not guarantee acceptance. We may refuse unsuitable, misleading, unlawful or irrelevant content. If we reject a paid application before supplying the service, we will refund the payment for that application.
Advertisers are responsible for the accuracy of their content and for having permission to use supplied names, photographs, logos and other material. They must keep their details current and comply with applicable advertising and professional rules. By supplying content, you give us permission to reproduce and format it for the agreed listing or advertisement.
We may make reasonable presentation edits without materially changing the agreed service. We may suspend or remove content while investigating a credible concern about accuracy, legality, ownership or safety, and will explain our decision where reasonably possible.
Free listings are subject to available space. Each town and category has limited capacity, and paid listings may displace free entries. A free entry does not confer a permanent right to inclusion or a particular position. Paid entries will not be displaced simply to make room for another paying advertiser.
Any exclusive position applies only to the town, category and period expressly agreed. We do not guarantee visitor numbers, enquiries, sales or search-engine rankings.
Payments, renewal and cancellation
The total price, any applicable tax, billing interval, minimum term and automatic renewal arrangements will be shown before you order. Automatic renewal applies only where expressly agreed. We will not introduce a new minimum term or change an agreed price retrospectively.
You can request cancellation through our contact form or by telephone or post using the details above. Unless your accepted order specifies another arrangement, cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid billing period, with no further renewal charges. Fees for a period already supplied are not normally refundable merely because you no longer need the advertisement.
If you pay by Direct Debit, cancelling the bank mandate alone does not notify us to end the service or settle any amount properly due. Please also tell us that you wish to cancel. Your rights under the Direct Debit Guarantee are unaffected.
If we discontinue an agreed paid service without a breach by you, we will refund the unused portion of the affected prepaid service. If a payment fails, we will contact you and give a reasonable opportunity to resolve it before suspending the paid service.
Any proposed changes affecting a renewal will be notified before that renewal, giving you a reasonable opportunity to cancel. Nothing in these terms removes any mandatory statutory rights.
5. Website use, responsibility and complaints
You may read, print and download our guidance for your own use. Please ask permission before republishing substantial parts or using them commercially. Rights in third-party material remain with their respective owners.
External websites and listed services are operated by their respective providers. We cannot control their content or performance. We do not guarantee uninterrupted website availability, but will take reasonable steps to address reported problems.
We remain responsible for performing services we agree to supply with reasonable care and skill. Nothing in these terms excludes liability for fraud, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any liability or rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.
For a correction or complaint about TPD, contact Stephen Pett using the details above, identifying the page, listing or transaction concerned. We will investigate and respond as soon as reasonably practicable. Complaints about a separate provider’s work should be raised with that provider and, where applicable, its regulator or complaints scheme.
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. This does not override any mandatory protections or court rights available to a consumer.
Privacy Policy
6. Who is responsible for your information?
Stephen Pett, trading as The Probate Department, is the controller responsible for personal information used for TPD’s website, enquiries, directory and advertising services. Contact him using the address, telephone number or contact form above for privacy enquiries or requests.
7. Information we collect and where it comes from
We collect information you provide through forms, telephone calls, correspondence, listing applications and orders. This can include your name, contact details, business details, enquiry, correspondence, account information and payment or transaction records.
Basic directory information may also come from business websites, public registers and other publicly available business sources. Where this identifies an individual, such as a sole trader, it is personal information. You can ask us where an entry came from or request a correction or removal.
Website hosting and security systems may process technical information such as IP addresses, browser details, pages requested and access times. We also use website usage statistics to understand which pages are helpful. IP addresses and similar identifiers can be personal information; we do not assume that all technical data is anonymous.
Please supply only information needed for your enquiry. Do not send bank credentials, identity documents, detailed medical information or sensitive information about other people through a general enquiry form. If sensitive information is necessary, we will explain the appropriate arrangements before requesting it.
8. Why we use information and our lawful bases
- Answering enquiries and arranging requested referrals: our legitimate interests in responding and helping you find relevant services; or taking steps at your request before a contract, where applicable. We obtain your agreement before sharing an enquiry with a proposed provider.
- Managing paid listings, accounts and advertising: performing our contract with you, or our legitimate interests in communicating with a business customer’s representative.
- Compiling and maintaining basic business listings: our legitimate interests in providing a useful local directory, balanced against the rights and reasonable expectations of the individuals concerned.
- Security, service improvement, records and complaints: our legitimate interests in operating a reliable service, preventing misuse and resolving problems.
- Accounting and legal compliance: compliance with legal obligations.
- Optional email updates: your consent. You can withdraw it at any time.
Where consent is required for cookies or similar technologies, we request it separately. We do not use personal information to make decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects through solely automated processing.
9. Who receives information?
Access is limited to people and service providers who need the information for the relevant purpose. These may include website hosting and security providers, email and enquiry systems, account and directory systems, payment processors, accounting providers and professional advisers supporting our business.
When you agree to a referral, we share only the information needed with the identified provider. That provider will normally act as a separate controller and should give you its own privacy information. Association with The Professional Will Writer does not mean your details are automatically shared for its marketing.
Business listing information submitted for publication, or included as a basic public entry, is visible to website visitors and may be indexed by search engines. Private enquiry details and payment information are not part of a public listing.
We may disclose information where required by law or where lawfully necessary to protect rights, investigate fraud or resolve a dispute. We do not sell contact lists or permit advertisers to access private enquiries merely because they advertise.
Some service providers may process information outside the UK. Where this happens, we use an applicable UK adequacy arrangement or other appropriate legal safeguards, such as approved contractual safeguards. You can contact us for details of any relevant transfer and safeguards. Visiting the website is not treated as consent to an international transfer.
10. Email updates and telephone contact
We may contact you to respond to an enquiry, provide information you requested or manage a listing or order. These service messages are separate from optional marketing.
We send optional promotional email updates to people who have opted in. You can unsubscribe using the link in an email or contact us directly. Unsubscribing does not prevent you from making a new enquiry or receiving necessary messages about an existing service.
If you do not want further marketing calls or messages, tell us. We may retain a minimal suppression record so that your preference is respected.
11. How long we keep information
We keep information only for as long as reasonably necessary for its purpose, taking account of legal requirements and any outstanding complaint or dispute.
- Enquiries that do not lead to an ongoing service: normally up to six months after the last substantive contact.
- Active listings and advertising accounts: while the service remains active, with necessary contract, transaction and complaint records normally kept for up to six years after the service ends. Records required by tax law are kept for the applicable statutory period.
- Basic public business entries: while relevant to the directory, subject to correction, review and removal requests.
- Marketing subscriptions: until you unsubscribe or the subscription is no longer needed, with a minimal record retained where necessary to honour an opt-out.
- Technical logs, form copies and backups: according to their operational purpose and configured retention periods, keeping them no longer than needed for security, recovery and enquiry handling. Contact us for the applicable period for a particular system.
Deleting a form entry from the website does not necessarily delete its email copy, correspondence or a backup. Where there is a legal obligation or an unresolved claim, relevant records may need to be retained longer. Records of separately instructed estate-planning work follow that service’s own retention policy.
12. Cookies, statistics and external services
The website may use cookies and similar technologies for functions such as security, sign-in, preferences and payments. Where consent is legally required, these technologies must not be activated before your choice. Where a lawful exception applies, we provide the information and any choice required for that exception.
Details of the technologies actually used, their purposes, providers and durations should be available through the website’s cookie information and settings. You can also manage cookies through your browser, although blocking necessary cookies may affect requested services.
Third-party websites have their own privacy and cookie policies. Following a link does not make TPD responsible for those policies.
13. Security and feedback
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect information and restrict access. No website or email system can guarantee absolute security.
Questions and feedback may help us improve our guidance. We may publish a genuinely anonymised summary, taking care to remove details that could identify you or another person. We will seek permission before publishing identifiable material or a testimonial.
14. Your rights and privacy complaints
Depending on the circumstances, you can ask to access your personal information, correct it, erase it, restrict its use or receive certain information in a portable format. You can object to processing based on legitimate interests and always object to direct marketing. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it without affecting earlier lawful processing.
These rights are subject to legal conditions: for example, we may need to retain accounting records or information relevant to a legal claim. We may request proportionate evidence of identity before disclosing information.
Contact Stephen Pett to exercise a right or complain about our handling of information. We will normally respond to a rights request within one month, subject to any lawful extension.
You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/, telephone 0303 123 1113, or write to the ICO, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
15. Changes to this policy
We will update this page when our services or information practices change and show the revised date above. We will draw material changes to your attention where appropriate. Updating a privacy policy does not itself provide consent for a new use of your information or alter an existing paid contract.