Posted: Thursday, 21 October 2021 @ 13:12
After
someone dies, their executor or administrator will be responsible for
finalising their financial affairs.
This
involves collecting in all of their assets and belongings and either selling
them or transferring them in accordance with their Will or, if they have not
left a Will, the Rules of Intestacy.
Identify
assets
Making
a full list of the deceased’s assets will help you value the estate and manage
the winding-up process. You will need to do some detective work to try and find
all of the bank accounts, life insurance policies, shares, property and
valuable items such as cars, art or jewellery.
Calculate
and pay Inheritance Tax
Once
you know what assets the deceased owned, you should value them. This may
involve writing to insurance companies to ask the value of policies and valuing
shares and expensive possessions.
You
will also need to find out how much the deceased owed, for example in respect
of mortgages, credit cards, utility bills and other debts.
Finally,
you need to ascertain how much the deceased gave away in gifts over the last
seven years of their life, as once this amount goes over a certain level,
Inheritance Tax may be payable on the gift.
Once
you have these figures, you can work out the approximate amount of the net
estate and use this to calculate the amount of Inheritance Tax, if any, that
will be payable. Calculating Inheritance Tax is not always straightforward, and
you may need to seek professional help in establishing exactly how much is
owed.
Apply
for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration
Once
you have paid any Inheritance Tax that is due, you can apply for the Grant of
Probate or, if the deceased did not leave a Will, the Grant of Letters of
Administration. This will give you the legal authority to deal with the estate
administration.
Collect
in assets
Once
you have the Grant, you can send it to the various asset holders such as banks
and building societies and ask them to close accounts. If the deceased owned a
property, this can be cleared and sold.
Pay
debts and other liabilities
At
the same time, all of the deceased’s debts should be paid and receipts obtained
confirming payment has been made in full.
Prepare
estate accounts
The
executor or administrator is also required to produce detailed estate accounts
setting out all of the transactions that have taken place.
Distribute
the estate
During
the course of the administration, it will be necessary to identify and locate
all of the beneficiaries. Once this has been done and the administration
completed, the estate can be distributed to the beneficiaries named in the Will
or who are entitled to inherit under the Rules of Intestacy.
Provided by Sue Ioannou, Chair & Head of Training