ate or letters of administration is granted. Once probate or letters of administration has been has been granted, the final tax bill will be sorted out.
For more about inheritance tax, see Inheritance tax.
After probate or letters of administration has been granted
After the interview, you will get a letter saying how much inheritance tax is still left to pay.
Once this has been paid, probate or letters of administration will be sent to you in the post. It includes details of the gross and net estate, that is, the value of the estate before and after debts have been deducted. A photocopy of the will, stamped to prove it is an official copy, is also sent. Both the probate/letters of administration and the will are public documents and can be examined by anyone who wants to see them.
Once you have got probate or letters of administration, you can begin to deal with the estate and share out the property.
If you are an executor and you do not wish to act
Even if you have been named as an executor in someone's will, you may not wish to, or be able to, act. You can appoint someone else to apply for probate on your behalf. To do this, fill in their details on form PA1. The other person will then be sent a form to sign.
Example: Jane's father died. In his will, he named his wife, Amara as his executor and left his estate to her. Amara is too frail to carry out the duties of executor so she appoints Jane to act on her behalf.
You may not want to appoint someone else to act for you. You can still refuse to act, as long as the person who made the will has died and you have not already started to deal with the estate. This is called renouncing.
To renounce, you fill in a form, called a form of renunciation. You can buy this form from a specialist legal stationers such as Oyez. You can order forms from their website at: www.oyezformslink.co.uk. You then file the form at a probate registry, together with the will.
This means that someone else could then apply for letters of administration.
The GOV.UK website has a useful checklist of what to do when someone dies. You can find this online at www.gov.uk.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service produces a useful guide for people who are applying for probate or letters of administration. It is called How to obtain probate - A guide for people acting without a solicitor. You can download the leaflet from their website at www.justice.gov.uk.
Cruse Bereavement Care supports people who are bereaved and produces useful information and advice. Go to their website at: www.crusebereavementcare.org.uk.