Not having your affairs in order before death can lead to increased costs for your estate

GEPP

16 April 2021

By Sarah Field

Not having your affairs in order before death can lead to increased costs for your estate

Gathering information from a deceased's family for probate is hugely important to solicitors but, unfortunately, many people die without putting their affairs in order, even those that have made a Will.

Probate professionals are heavily reliant on information provided by clients to enable them to verify assets and liabilities, but lack of information can make the process much more time consuming, and therefore costly.

A recent report released online suggests that:

  • 95% of probate professional rely on information from their clients, 40% almost entirely
  • 14% of those dealing with probate said they were not aware of all of the deceased's assets
  • 71% of solicitors said that at least half of their clients had died without putting their affairs in order.

Some 23% of people die without leaving a Will and this can make the process of dealing with an estate that much more difficult.

According to the report, if the deceased has not left their affairs in order then it can take on average one and a half times longer to complete probate.

If you want to reduce the time and costs incurred by your estate after you've died, then a good Will is the first step to take. If you need a Will, want to update an existing one or simply have it reviewed to see if it is still fit for purpose, please feel free to contact our Private Client department on 01245 228125 or email PrivateClientEnq@gepp.co.uk and one the team will be happy to assist you.

This is not legal advice; it is intended to provide information of general interest about current legal issues.