Wills, power of attorney, probate and Inheritance Tax
Most of this is paperwork that only has to be done once, and most of it can be done without a solicitor. What trips people up is rarely the law — it is a form filled in the wrong order, or a right that turns out not to exist. These guides cover both.
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Power of attorney
The two lasting power of attorney forms, what they cost, and what to do when an attorney, a relative or a firm gets it wrong.
Wills
Without a will the law decides who inherits, and an unmarried partner gets nothing. A valid will in England and Wales is in writing, signed in front of two witnesses who sign in turn, by someone over 18 of sound mind; a witness or their spouse cannot benefit. Anyone can write one, and will-writing is unregulated. Marriage cancels an earlier will; divorce does not. The Probate Service will store it for £24.
Probate
Whether you need probate, how the application works, how long it takes, and what an executor does when something goes wrong.
- Am I liable for my parent's debts?
- Assets or executors abroad
- Corrective account (C4)
- Council tax and DWP demands
- Disputes over an inherited house
- Do I need probate?
- Finding the assets
- How long probate takes
- How probate works
- Inheritance and benefits
- Inheritance Tax forms
- Letters of administration
- Pension money after a death
- Renouncing or disclaiming
- Selling or transferring the home
- Solicitor problems
- Tenants in an estate property
- Valuing the estate
- When an executor delays
- When an executor dies
- Which bills the estate pays first
When someone dies
Register the death within five days, use Tell Us Once to report it to government in one go, then value the estate and decide whether probate is needed. The steps in the order they come, with the deadlines GOV.UK sets.
Inheritance tax
There is normally no Inheritance Tax if the estate is under £325,000, or if everything above that goes to a spouse, civil partner or charity. A home left to children or grandchildren adds £175,000, and a widow or widower can add whatever share of those allowances their late spouse did not use. Tax is 40% of the part above the threshold, paid by the estate, not by each person who inherits.