The process of obtaining probate can be a headache and a cause for despair, but what if there were an alternative?
Ann Stanyer, partner at Wedlake Bell, writing in this week’s NLJ, suggests it may be ‘time to rethink’ whether a grant of representation is necessary and whether, instead, clients’ affairs could be structured in a way to avoid the probate process.
Stanyer sets out alternatives—for example, most high street banks are prepared to release up to £50,000 or more in some circumstances, without a grant of representation. She also looks at trusts and transfers of estate for high net worth individuals.
Stanyer concludes that while, the need for the grant will continue for complex estates, ‘practitioners need to be more creative in advising clients about how to avoid the need for a grant of representation for a straightforward estate’.
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