Once the funeral is out of the way it is time to get down to sorting out the deceased affairs a process which can take months, even years, depending on how complicated they are. The first task for the next of kin (or whoever has been sorting things out thus far) is to find out who is responsible for doing this. If the deceased has made a will, everyone named as an executor of the will should be contacted at the earliest possible opportunity. As the personal representatives of the deceased they are legally responsible for dealing with the assets of the estate a task which involves settling outstanding bills and distributing what remains of the estate to the heirs. If there are no executors, or none of them is able or willing to execute the will, the task falls to the beneficiary of the residue of the estate (or the sole beneficiary) who becomes the administrator of the will. (The residue is what is left of the estate after the bills have been paid and bequests made.) In Scotland different terminology is used. The equivalent of an executor is Chanel Shopping Handbag the executor nominate while an administrator of a will is the executor dative. AN UNWILLING EXECUTOR Two executors were named in my father will, but by the time of his death 40 years later one of these was dead and the other, being well advanced in years, did not want the reponsibility of dealing with the will. He therefore renounced the right to act as the executor and so responsibility for administering the estate was transferred to my father sole beneficiary, my mother, who applied not for probate, but for letters of administration. INVESTING AN INHERITANCE An uncle of mine bequeathed a proportion of his estate to his two great-grandchildren for them to inherit when they attained the age of 18. The joint executors, in their capacity as trustees, invested the money set aside for them, which appreciated in value and was paid out to the beneficiaries several years later when they attained their majority. If you decide to enlist a solicitor and have nobody particular in mind, you should make sure you choose one with particular expertise in wills and probate law. Again Fake Louis Vuitton Damier Graphite Canvas the Citizens Advice Bureau could be of help, you could look in Yellow Pages (in which most solicitors list their areas of expertise) or you could contact the Law Society for a list of suitably qualified solicitors in your area. You should try to get an estimate of the solicitor likely fees at the outset. two per cent). If you are on a low income you may be able to get legal aid, but the costs will probably be recouped from the estate. WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE IS NO WILL? Six people out of every ten die without having made a will. In other words they die intestate, and responsibility for administering the estate would normally fall to the deceased next of kin in the following order of precedence: 1Lawful husband or wife 2Sons or daughters (but not step-children) 3Parents 4Brothers or sisters 5Grandparents 6Uncles or aunts If people in categories 4 and 6 are dead, nephews, nieces and cousins of the deceased become eligible to apply for letters of administration. In Scotland different rules apply. If the deceased has not given any officially recognised guidelines as to who should benefit from their estate in the form of a will, it has to be distributed according to the rules of intestacy (see Figure 1, page 7). This sets down clear guidelines as to who should inherit and what proportion of the estate they should inherit after liabilities have been taken care of. If you were permanently resident outside of England and Wales when you died, your estate will be subject to the intestacy rules of the country in question. Winding Up The Deceased's Affairs Once the funeral is out of the way it is time to get down to sorting out the deceased affairs a process which can take months, even years, depending on how complicated they are. The first task for the next of kin (or whoever has been sorting things LV M51153 Monogram Vernis Purple handbag out thus far) is to find out who is responsible for doing this. If the deceased has made a will, everyone named as an executor of the will should be contacted at the earliest possible opportunity. As the personal representatives of the deceased they are legally responsible for dealing with the assets of the estate a task which involves settling outstanding bills and distributing what remains of the estate to the heirs. If there are no executors, or none of them is able or willing to execute the will, the task falls to the beneficiary of the residue of the estate (or the sole beneficiary) who becomes the administrator of the will. (The residue is what is left of the estate after the bills have been paid and bequests made.) In Scotland different terminology is used. The equivalent of an executor is the executor nominate while an administrator of a will is the executor dative. AN UNWILLING EXECUTOR Two executors were named in my father will, but by the time of his death 40 years later one of these was dead and the other, being well advanced in years, did not want the reponsibility of dealing with the will. He therefore renounced the right to act as the executor and so responsibility for administering the estate was transferred to my father sole beneficiary, my mother, who applied not for probate, but for letters of administration. INVESTING AN INHERITANCE An uncle of mine bequeathed a proportion of his estate to his two great-grandchildren for them to inherit when they attained the age of 18. The joint executors, in their capacity as trustees, invested the money set aside for them, which appreciated in value and was paid out to the beneficiaries several years later when they attained their majority. If you decide to enlist a solicitor and have nobody particular in mind, you should make sure you choose one with particular expertise in wills and probate law. Again the Citizens Advice Bureau could be of help, you could look in Yellow Pages (in which most solicitors list their areas of expertise) or you could contact the Law Society for a list of suitably qualified solicitors in your area. You should try to get an estimate of the solicitor likely fees at the outset. two per cent). If you are on a low income you may be able to get legal aid, but the costs will probably be recouped from the estate. WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE IS NO WILL? Six people out of every ten die without having made a will. In other words they die intestate, and responsibility for administering the estate would normally fall to the deceased next of kin in the following order of precedence: 1Lawful husband or wife 2Sons or daughters (but not step-children) 3Parents 4Brothers or sisters 5Grandparents 6Uncles or aunts If people in categories 4 and 6 are dead, nephews, nieces and cousins of the deceased become eligible to apply for letters of administration. In Scotland different rules apply. If the deceased has not given any officially recognised guidelines as to who should benefit from their estate in the form of a will, it has to be distributed according to the rules of intestacy (see Figure 1, page 7). This sets down clear guidelines as to who should inherit and what proportion of the estate they should inherit after liabilities have been taken care of. If you were permanently resident outside of England and Wales when you died, your estate will be subject to the intestacy rules of the country in question.