Is It Worth Using a Probate or Lasting Power of Attorney Solicitor?

The Benefits of Probate and Lasting Power of Attorney?

There is a feeling amongst some folk that a Probate or Lasting Power of Attorney Solicitor is too expensive and that you might as well carry out the work yourself. Others who have applied for Probate in the past come into our office saying never again! It is actually hard work.

I tend to look at this a different way. What benefit can we bring to a client, family or estate. Often we more than cover our fees with the extra money that we can raise during the Probate work that we do.

I have just read of a firm uncovering a long forgotten account worth £270,000 by using an unclaimed assets type search in a probate case.

Quite a remarkable amount of money to be sat in an old account.

On one of our probate cases we uncovered a long abandoned house by searching through the bin as the local authority had disposed of all paperwork. The client was still alive and we were managing his affairs. When asked he advised us that he hadn't been able to sell the property so had just moved away and left it.

We had a rat man treat it, then a clearance team went in. At last we could work out how many rooms there were. We managed to sell it within a week of marketing it for sale for circa £110k. It sat overlooking the Firth of Forth and had a seventy foot garden full of old fruit trees.

We also uncovered, by way of a search, an old account worth £40,000 and overpaid utility bills in the sum of £14,000.

All of which meant that our client could go on living in his care home.

In another probate case, we alerted our Auctioneer to the fact that there were lots of old comics in a house we were dealing with. They realised over £300,000 for the estate.

It’s also about taking the time to search through paperwork. There can be very old insurance policies lying about. We never assume that they were cashed in when parents or grandparents died. Sometimes they can be worth tens of thousands of pounds.

If you are trying to manage an estate yourself then you must remember that HMRC are very interested in the value of that estate. They could come after you to pay monies due to them. Even if you have already distributed that money to other relatives. The Department of Work and Pensions could also pursue you if the person who has died was illegally claiming state benefits. Often people don’t even realise that they shouldn’t have been claiming.

In one probate case some friends had been trying to sort out the estate of their deceased friend. He had been living on a mattress on the floor. Convinced he was in poverty. However, we uncovered a long forgotten about investment policy worth tens of thousands of pounds. Whilst the estate was to gain from this the DWP demanded back over £40,000 in overpaid means tested benefits as a result of the existence of this policy. Fortunately the friends had come to us. If not they may have distributed the value of that policy and been responsible for paying the money back.

We are here to help with all of these proate and Lasting Power of Attorney issues.

Contact us now, to discuss your Lasting Power of Attorney and Probate needs.

Lasting Power of Attorney and Probate Solicitors Newcastle:  0191 284 6989

Lasting Power of Attorney and Probate Solicitors Sunderland: 0191 567 6667

Email us: enquiries@emmersons-solicitors.co.uk

Complete our Online Enquiry Form

You can also park opposite our Sunderland Office on John Street.