Research has found that around 33% of employees who had suffered the death of a family member or even co-worker had not been treated with compassion by their employer. 88% of employees felt all employers should have a caring policy which included paid bereavement leave.As an aside, many employers do not have precautions in place to ensure their own business survives if it is a key employee or owner who dies or is unable to continue working.  See our Estate Planning information.The ACAS Guide to Bereavement Guide for Employers is published in co-operation with Cruse Bereavement Care and many other organisations have contributed to it. As Brendan Barber said”Grief from the death of a loved one can be an extremely sad and emotional experience for anyone. It can affect people in different ways in the workplace and managers should have the skills needed to handle it.”Our guide aims to help employers manage this difficult situation with their employee in the immediate aftermath of bereavement as well as longer term.”It includes advice for managers on how to get the balance right in order to be supportive, compassionate, flexible and practical towards employees who are dealing with bereavement.”ACAS’ good practice Bereavement Guide for employers on managing death in the workplace includes:

• Everyone reacts differently to bereavement and this should be understood and respected by both employers and colleagues.
• It is good practice to involve trade unions or staff representative in developing a bereavement policy and making sure managers are trained appropriately.
• A calm empathetic approach in all communications from managers will ensure employees feel supported and minimise their anxiety about returning to work.
• Some employees may feel able to return to work very swiftly, whilst others may need more time. It all depends on the individual, the relationship and the circumstances of the death.
• The employees reaction on returning to work may not be what they or others may expect. Things may well vary day by day, sometimes dramatically as something unexpectedly brings up feelings of grief or even remorse. Timescales are unpredictable.
• Employers should consider the family unit and adopt a flexible approach, perhaps offering part-time or flexible hours to support the colleague and to minimise sick days as they settle into new or increased caring responsibilities.

Click the link to download a copy Acas’ Bereavement Guide for Employers.Bereavement hub page.

We are able to work with overseas lawyers to offer a service in all parts of the world except  the US and Canada, where all we can do is signpost useful sites.

• Szabo & Associates Solicitors provides legal services in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW) for drafting and updating wills, probate and estate planning law; Succession Act (Family Provision Act) claims; conveyancing and property law; retail, commercial and industrial leases; the sale and purchase of small business in NSW; liquor licensing; and property-related Foreign Investment Review Board Applications.  http://www.szabosolicitors.com.au/
• Donlan Lawyers practice in Adelaide South Australia in all areas of estate planning and deceased estates. www.donlanlawyers.com

• Useful site if you are looking at US Estate Planning and Probate Links.

At The Probate Department Ltd we don’t offer a service in the US or Canada but are keen to build up connections with US Probate firms who can help people out. If you are in the US, and you run a Probate firm, please contact us! For insurance reasons we are unable to deal with clients native to or based in the US or Canada.

Overseas Estate Planning and Probate Links

Probate for Overseas Assets.

Probate for Overseas Assets: Yes, indeed, we have some expertise in house, and we also have a wide range of contacts who will work with us to sort out issues with assets abroad.The contacts we have collected to date are here.The most common overseas assets are in the US, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and we have just taken on an estate in the Channel Islands.For lawyers in other countries, if we can’t help, we will be happy to introduce you to our contacts to simplify your administration and cut your costs.[contact-form 1 “Contact form 1”]

Overseas Assets Probate – France, Spain, US, Portugal, Italy, Channel Islands, US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia.

Probate for Overseas Assets.

Probate question: Is probate needed? “My father who died on Tuesday and left a last will and asking my brother and I to be executors and he has left everything to my mother.Do I need to get the will checked at the Probate office to confirm it is legally correct?  Is probate needed? If it is, go here. The flat, bank accounts, car, policies are in joint names with my mother so do we need to do anything?”

Is Probate Needed?

First point is that you need to make sure the Will and related papers are preserved until after your mothers death, just in case you need to use Dads Nil Rate Band for Inheritance Tax when mum dies. Looking after these papers could just save £100.000 + in Inheritance Tax.There is a fair chance that you may not need to get a grant of probate, but it only takes one awkward bank etc to demand it and you have no choice.Hopefully they will all accept a copy of the Will and the death certificate (get lots).If their home is owned joint tenants (they both owned all of it) then just send the death certificate to the Land Registry and ask for his name to be removed.  If they owned the property in shares (tenants in common) the probate will be needed to transfer ownership.  As the last will is so simple, they are probably joint tenants, which makes it very easy at this stage, but does put the home at risk from Community Care Tax.As long as both your mum and dad are English or Welsh, can’t think of any other problems offhand.Once the dust settles, mum should review her legal planning and get Lasting Powers of Attorney and consider Asset Protection so her whole estate doesn’t go to the Council.I have attached some of our guides for you.Fingers crossed!Steve 

Is Probate Needed?

To Probate A Will, the executors of that Last Will need to go through the process of gathering all the information about the assets and liabilities of the person whose Will needs a grant of probate.  Once they have all that information, and have settled any Inheritance Tax Liabilities with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the executors can apply to probate a Will though a Probate Registry. A grant of probate is an official document which the executors may need to administer the estate. It is issued by a section of the court known as the probate registry.

Ask for a copy of our FREE Guide on How to Probate a Will.

Once the Probate Registry is satisfied that the forms have been completed correctly, that the Last Will presented for Probate is properly constructed and signed, and the relevant fee has been paid, they will normally call in the executors seeking to probate the Will to swear an oath that the forms are a true and correct reflection of the deceased’s’ estate.Executors who seek to probate a Will without full and detailed care and attention and who lie about this under oath are liable to find themselves in very expensive and very hot water!But it is not always necessary to probate a Will, as many estates pass automatically under the survivorship rules where assets are owned jointly, and other estates are sufficiently small that banks etc may not require that the Will be probated.  We have a leaflet on that too. Do I need to probate a Will?Many people do find they are flummoxed by the paper work surrounding probate of a Will, and hand the job over lock stock and barrel to a solicitor or bank.  Generally speaking, we offer a much lower cost alternative way to probate a Will, so do get in touch with us before you commit to any other professional dealing with the probate of a Will.  Unlike many, we are quite happy for you to do some or all of the legwork yourself, and we even offer an assisted route to probate a Will through DIY Probate UK.com – see the link to the right.

Probate a Will – for help, contact The Probate Department Ltd.

Our friendly and co-operative approach to dealing with an estate after death typically results in a cut of probate fees of 75%  or even more.  As well as being a great relief to family executors who don’t really have the time or experience to carry out the work of probate efficiently. In the end both executors and beneficiaries can lose out – which may result in probate claims rather than low probate fees.We have seen cases where folk have tried to avoid probate fees and and accidentally triggered needless £100,000 plus tax charges in Last Wills specifically designed to save inheritance tax!If you do feel that you need some help, our job is to keep probate fees as low as possible. Please do contact us to find out how to cut probate fees.Using The Probate Department to cut probate fees after a death will probably mean many extra thousands of pounds will be available for the benefit of your chosen beneficiaries if we help you to cut probate fees.

Probate Quotes: How much can we save you? It costs nothing to find out.

what to do when someone diesOur probate fees are based on a simple hourly rate in most cases.  We will quote a flat fee based on full disclosure of the case, if that is your preference. We will deal with as much or as little of the probate work needed to wind up the estate as you wish.  The more work the family do, the lower the probate fees! At least, as long as it is correct ;-)In terms of hidden charges, we just charge for significant things which we have to pay out.  We don’t charge extra for letters or phone calls (we might charge if they are overseas!) or stamps.  We will charge for Court Fees, Registrars fees, conveyancing and mileage etc.   We charge by the minute so 6 one minute calls are charged as 6 minutes, not 6 units of time (each unit being 6 minutes!) as many firms do.   We don’t charge £45 for a letter which takes 5 minutes to send – we charge for 5 minutes.   It always pays to read the small print.Provided you are within reasonable reach of our main bases in Hastings, Eastbourne, Burgess Hill  and Worthing we can easily come to see you to get the details, and we have representatives in most areas of England and Wales.  And that can be outside of office hours if that makes life easier.If you haven’t had a quote for probate fees from any professional executors appointed in your Will  – you should obtain one immediately, before it is too late, you are dead and they are left in sole charge.  It is then far too late to renegotiate the fees!  Solicitors often charge a “responsibility allowance” of as much as 1.5% of the entire value of your estate.  Plus their hourly probate fee rate which could be three times ours.If you have appointed ludicrously expensive solicitors (they aren’t all!) or (worse) banks, why not contact us immediately for a Codicil to put your family back in charge, and able to negotiate sensible probate fees (preferably with us!)  You can still use the same bank or solicitors – if you wish.  But the family will appoint them after death and the family will then be in charge, not the professionals.  And if the don’t like the probate fees or their work rate, they are able to change.Contact us to cut probate fees here.

Cut Probate Fees