Special expertise is required where a business owner dies. Or indeed, loses the ability to make decisions due to accident or illness.   Our probate and estate planning barrister will be happy to have a quick chat with you to see how urgent action is, as this will depend on the structure of the business. What needs doing will also vary. She can better advise you in advance, to make sure there is a proper succession plan and all the necessary documentation in place – death or disability can strike unexpectedly.When a small business owner dies, it is quite possible that the business will fail unless very rapid action is taken to allow the executors or administrators to continue running the business. So it is important that the advance Legal Planning takes the issues for the family and employees into account and is reviewed as circumstance change over the years.In many cases, as soon as the bank learns of the death, bank accounts will be frozen.  This would lead to staff and creditors not being paid, for perhaps 6 to 9 months which would clearly be a disaster. As far as shareholders in limited companies are concerned and the death of a partner in a business, then the issues are quite different from those of sole owners.  But they can be much more complex, and the needs for advance planning even more crucial.  Many a widow or widower has expected a handsome sum from the sale or continuation of a business and received not a bean, because the basic precautions were not made.   So if you are married to a business owner, it is up to you to make sure they have guaranteed your situation as far as possible. Exactly the same applies if you work for a business run by the owners (and indeed in some larger businesses.

Death of Business Owner: rapid action needed.

What is needed is prompt action to secure the authority to carry on running the business  so as to preserve it as an asset and a legacy for those who will inherit.This action needs to be taken very quickly before panic starts to set in amongst staff and suppliers.  As far as staff are concerned, the best ones will find it easier to get new jobs quickly, potentially leaving a business crippled by the loss of what remained of the experienced and senior staff now the business owner is no more.All business owners should have a succession plan in place and where possible, staff who can carry on despite the death of the business owner or their disability for a significant period.  It may be just a few days before the business starts to unravel, and  both the value and the jobs vanish for ever.Remember, the business can’t even be sold until probate has been granted, so keeping it going in the meanwhile is crucial.  And it is not an issue which many firms will have the expertise to deal with.We can offer advice both in planning terms for the death or disability of the business owner and for sorting things out if the necessary planning is not in place.

Disability of business owner – big problems without advance planning.

Strangely, the disability (in the sense that they are not able to make decisions temporarily or permanently, typically through accident, stroke or mental health issues) of the business owner is far harder to sort out quickly than their death, and the planning is often fairly inexpensive and can be paid for by the business.  It is however a fairly slow process as bureaucracy plays a big part.So either way, please contact us and we will endeavour to sort things out for you as economically and rapidly as possible. The death of a business owner can be a disaster, and is best planned for (contact our Estate Planning department) but requiries immediate action if it is too late to plan.

For anyone involved in serious family research for personal or business reasons there is often that hard to trace person who just cannot seem to be found.Professional probate researcher Tracey Sedgewick was constantly faced with this dilemma when researching intestate cases held with HM Treasury Solicitor and decided to do something about the enigma.

HHA People Trace.

Tracey approached Maurice Clarke of the Heir Hunters Association (HHA) with the idea and together HHA People Trace was formed using a sophisticated bank of databases to cross reference, often sparse information on the subject being sought.

Is mother entitled to anything?

I want to know if my mother is entitled to anything please. My sister died  9 months ago after having been married for only 6 months.  Proper to her death she had a will that named my mother as sole beneficiary to her estate. Her husband with whom she had not lived together or had any assets together is claiming  the whole of her estate under the law. Do we have a right to challenge, my sister was financially supporting my mother over the past 20 years as she gets very little in pension!! (Click for our general page on Contentious Probate.) More on Probate Disputes.  Probate Claim Checker.

Is my mother entitled to anything?

Answer: Unless her earlier Will was made with the marriage in mind (which would be documented) or after the marriage,  it was cancelled by her marriage.  Very few people seem to be aware that marriage cancels a Will in most cases, and either a new one needs to be made, or the old one “revived” with a special codicil.  Clearly, your sister may have made another one.If there is no valid Will, then the Rules of Intestacy apply, and her husband is entitled to the first £450,000 of her estate, assuming there were  no children.   He also gets half of the balance over £450,000 and the other half of the balance is given to her parents (in this case, mother).  If there are no parents alive, then the balance is shared between her brothers and sisters.So if she had a large estate, your mother would get something. Your mother could make a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, normally within 6 months of probate being granted, so she should see a good contentious probate lawyer immediately as time is of the essence.  Your mother may well be able to make a claim under the Act if the husband will not make a sensible offer, which he may well.  Do make sure that the first letter from the solicitor is a friendly one – some tend to go for the jugular straight away, and prevent any possibility of the family very working together.

Good luck! 

Is mother entitled to anything?

Is mother entitled to anything? 

Why ANY delay in paying Inheritance to beneficiaries?

Of course, there are many other reasons for the delay: uncertainty that all beneficiaries have been found, that there may be undiscovered debts, the grant has not even been issued yet, not all assets have been found, fighting the Taxman over tax issues: any sort of uncertainty may lead the cautious professional to protect themselves against getting sued because something has been missed by withholding inheritances.

The solicitor is holding my inheritance back for 6 months: Why the delay in paying my inheritance?

Some Key points:                                                                                                               How long is probate taking?

• Executors and administrators have twelve months before they are obliged to distribute the estate to the beneficiaries. Time runs from the date of death, but if the administration is not complete, they may be unable to even after a year. Cleary, most will distribute as soon as they reasonably can. At the moment, you will be very lucky to have only a 6 month delay after death due to probate Registry delays which can exceed 12 months even after the application has been made.
• Overseas assets and many which appear to be UK but are overseas (e.g., shares in companies that were once British but are now US) can cause more than a 6-month delay in paying inheritances, as can having to sell a property.
• Beneficiaries who have a share of the estate, rather than something specific like a house, a car or a sum of money are entitled to a copy of the estate accounts to review.
• Worse still, a cautious executor may delay by 10 months as claimants who want to challenge a Will have six months from the issue of a Grant of Probate to bring a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (the “Act”). A further four months may be added as a person making a claim may have up to four months to serve a claim after the 6 month delay period has ended. In some circumstances, it may be even longer for example where the claimant had not been aware of the death.
• Placing a Section 27 notice in the Gazette and the deceased’s local paper (and trade papers if in business) offers substantial protection against unknown creditors after the notice period, which must be over 2 months.  That does NOT mean the executors don’t need to bother with reasonable searches,
• If the executor distributes the estate too early, they may end up being personally liable.
• Beneficiaries might have to repay some or all of what they have received under some circumstances, so caution in spending is wise if there is any uncertainty.

Probate Quotes                    Probate Disputes

Probate question: Why is the solicitor insisting on a 6-month delay in paying my inheritance?

My father died last year and we have been granted probate but the solicitor who is the co-executor along with my sister will not release any monies to us until 6 months have passed to make sure no one comes out of the woodwork to claim against the estate. What happens to the money the solicitor is holding for those 6 months?

Will it accrue interest and if so at what rate? Is there any way we can get the money released to us sooner?Please help as our solicitor dealing with this is from a small town and seems to be moving at a snail’s pace and I live abroad so cannot easily get in touch with them to speed things along!Answer to the 6-month delay in paying inheritances out.The solicitor is protecting himself against any potential claims under the Family and Dependents Act 1975 – dependents or so-called dependents might come out of the woodwork and claim that they had some sort of right to maintenance from your father’s estate. However unlikely, there could be (for example) a mistress with a child by your father, who would be perfectly entitled to claim – as would the child.If one did, and the solicitor, as executor, had paid everything out, he could be personally liable for any shortfall. You can see why he is being cautious!The other thing he has to wait for is a two-month period from the time notices have been published in the local paper and the Gazette, asking any creditors to make their demands known – once again, the executor could be personally liable for any shortfall if he pays everything out and cannot recover it.The only crumb of comfort is that the solicitor is under a duty to use the funds profitably, so they should be in a deposit account, accruing modest additional benefits for the residuary beneficiary.Any attempt on your part to speed things along is likely to result in additional costs for every contact!Some solicitors would take a view and pay out part of the estate, but the result of doing that and then a new and contradictory Will being found (or the discovery of hitherto unknown minor children) could result in the executor paying out the inheritances from his own pocket!Incidentally, we find that email and Skype work pretty well when dealing with clients based overseas!  Our quill pens were put in a museum long ago!A significant point is that insurance is available against unexpected heirs appearing after everything has been paid out, leaving the executor with potential personal liabilities. Insurance is also available to cover unexpected creditors (same page).Solicitor holding inheritance back for 6 months.Probate Question:

Why a 6 Month Delay in Paying Inheritances Out

My husband is one of three main beneficiaries from his grandfather’s will, there were smaller gifts left to other members of the family and friends, which have all been paid from the estate, however, the 3 main beneficiaries have still not received anything.All 3 have been asked to provide proof of ID from a list of required documents, only my husband has done this to date, the other two beneficiaries live overseas so have to seek legal help in providing proof to the UK solicitor dealing with this matter.Will the remaining estate not be distributed until all 3 have provided ID, the solicitor will not speak with my husband as he is not the executor, so we are in the dark (the executor is not very forthcoming).We wondered whether my husband could insist that the executor request the solicitor pay the 3rd equal share to my husband or whether by law they have to wait?Jane

Probate Answer: why a 6 month delay in paying out

There is no legal reason why the executor (or solicitor acting) is not making 1/3 distribution to the beneficiary who has provided ID now.However, they have the freedom to administer the estate as they think fit.  If they feel that administratively it is best to get all the IDs and then hand out all the residue in one go, that is not unreasonable, unless there is an unacceptable delay in getting such ID from all the beneficiaries.The beneficiaries are entitled to any interest earned on the legacy up to the date it is distributed and, if has to be held by the executor for any length of time, the executor has a duty to invest the money where it will earn the most interest for the beneficiaries. However, this may give rise to further costs if the Estate then has to prepare accounts for income or capital gains received before administration.We would certainly have suggested at least an interim distribution unless there was some doubt as to outstanding liabilities or assets or beneficiaries.Probate Department

Another Option – Probate Loans

Provided the probate is being handled by a professional, and the loan needed is large enough, it may be possible to get an advance.  Click the link and check it out. However, if the lawyer has sound reasons (other than natural caution) for the delay – perhaps they think the Will might be challenged, for example, then it may not be possible.