The difference between Wills and Probate?
A Will is the document prepared to make sure a person’s wishes are carried out, it is made in their lifetime. (Most people are clear what a will is but often don’t have one) Probate is the legal and financial process that allows this to be administered, so it is the part that happens after the person passes away.
Where there is a Will, Probate is generally easier and smoother to get through.
Probate deals with the property, money and possessions of the person that has died. It has a number of necessary steps. It’s the complex part that deals with HMRC, registries and the financial part of someone’s past life. It’s often not what those left behind want to think about at a time of grief.
The Process of executing a Will
The first step in Probate is finding all the assets (Things the deceased owned of value) and liabilities (things they owe to others, loans etc.). This helps us obtain the “Value of the estate.”
At this time, we also look at the beneficiaries of the Will or, if there is no Will we follow the Law of Intestacy. Beneficiaries will need to be identified and provide documents for this purpose.
