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When someone dies and they have substantial assets, a Grant of Probate is required to be obtained. A Grant of Probate (also referred to as Grant of Representation) is merely a court stamped document which names the personal representatives of the estate. Financial institutions will not release the deceased’s funds for distribution until they have had sight of a Grant and can rest assured that they are paying the monies to the correct person/people. A Grant is not always required, for example, if the deceased owned all their assets jointly with another person or they did not own any property, had no stocks or shares, but had various bank accounts with different banks, although each account held less than about £15,000, then the banks would usually just require a form to be completed and signed in front of a solicitor for the funds to be released. Every bank has its own rules about what amount it will release without the Grant and they will let you know what their requirements are once they are informed of the death. Continue reading “What is Probate? And how long can I expect it to take?”