Probate and Estate Administration

We are members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. Administering an estate means ascertaining the assets and liabilities of a deceased person, confirming the authority of the executor or administrator to deal with them, settling the tax position and distributing the assets in accordance with the deceased’s wishes or the intestacy rules, whichever is applicable. We also advise on whether a variation of the estate is advisable or possible in the circumstances. Every estate is different, and we have a wealth of experience in guiding executors through the administration process, including the administration of estates with foreign elements.

Legal 500 commentary

Legal 500 note in its ‘Personal tax, trusts and probate’ recommendations that: “Bijou firm Druces LLP fields multi-disciplinary lawyers with a commercial focus. ‘Being smaller is a distinct advantage, and there is always the feeling of a real team spirit’ says one client. Roy Campbell and Richard Monkcom have excellent reputations.

Recent work

• We were instructed to locate the potential beneficiaries of a deceased’s estate, tracing the wider family who had dispersed over Europe and America.

• We advised the executors in relation to the UK estate of an American deceased worth tens of millions of dollars who was resident in the UK.

• We acted on a particularly complex probate with continuing trusts and a number of complex Agricultural Property Relief claims.

• We are advising on issues relating to an insolvent estate (assets of £700-800,000 & debts of £1.75 million). This is an interesting and multi-faceted case involving Belgian jurisdiction and assets that include artwork and a book collection.

• We are advising on a significant UK estate where the bulk of the assets are real property, both in the UK and overseas.