Executry Lawyers Glasgow
When someone close to you dies, legal paperwork is the last thing you want to think about. Yet somebody has to deal with the bank, the house, the pension and the tax. If that person is you, we can take the weight of it. Our experienced executry lawyers act for families across Glasgow and throughout Scotland. We can handle the full estate administration, or support you with the parts you would rather not do alone. Our approach is always practical and compassionate, and we keep you informed at every stage.
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What is executry, and what does an executry solicitor do?
Executry is the Scottish process of winding up the affairs of a person who has died. In England it is called probate. Scotland has its own rules, its own forms and its own court process.
The estate is everything the deceased person owned, less whatever was owed. The job of the executor is to gather it all in, settle the debts and taxes, and pass what is left to the people entitled to it. Our private client solicitors do the technical work: valuing assets and liabilities, applying for confirmation, dealing with HMRC, and making sure the distribution is correct so that nobody comes back later with a claim.
Executry at a glance
- Executry is the Scottish process of winding up the affairs of a person who has died (probate in England).
- Confirmation is the court document proving you have authority to act, granted by the sheriff court.
- Timescale: a simple estate is often complete within six to nine months.
- Inheritance tax: most estates pay nothing, though a return may still be needed.
Do I need a solicitor to wind up an estate in Scotland?
Not always.
You may be able to apply yourself
For a very small estate the sheriff clerk can help you apply yourself.
It becomes much harder when there is:
- a property to sell
- several banks or investment providers
- a business interest
- tax to report
- a claim against the estate
- no will at all
An executor is personally liable for getting it right. If money goes to the wrong people, or a tax return is wrong, that falls on the executor. This is the point at which professional legal advice pays for itself.
Applying for confirmation
Confirmation is the court document proving you have authority to act. Without it, banks will not release funds and a house cannot be transferred.
Where there is a will, the person named in it is the executor nominate. Where there is none, the court will appoint an executor dative instead. Either way the application goes to the sheriff court, and the grant of confirmation follows once the paperwork is in order. If you have been asked to become the executor and are not sure what that involves, speak to us before you start.
Creating an inventory
Before the court grants confirmation you must list everything, with a value as at the date of death. That means formal valuations for property and written confirmations from every bank, insurer and pension provider. These figures set the inheritance tax position and determine what each beneficiary eventually receives.
Ingathering the estate
Once confirmation is granted, we ingather the estate. We present it to each institution, close accounts, encash policies, arrange any sale or transfer of property through our conveyancing team, and hold the funds safely until distribution.
Debts and taxes
Debts and taxes come before beneficiaries. Funeral arrangements, final bills, care fees and any outstanding income tax are settled first, in a set order. Inheritance tax is a United Kingdom tax administered by HMRC rather than a matter of Scots law, so the same thresholds apply here as elsewhere. Most estates pay nothing, though a return may still be needed. We prepare inheritance tax returns and deal with HMRC for you.
Distributing the estate
Where there is a valid will, we distribute the estate according to it, subject to legal rights. Where there is none, the rules of intestacy decide who inherits, in a fixed order. Once the debts, taxes and any claims are settled, we pay the rest of the estate to the beneficiaries and account to you for every penny.
What happens if there is no will
An intestate estate is dealt with in three stages. Prior rights come first, giving a surviving spouse or civil partner an interest in the family home, its contents and a cash sum, up to limits fixed by law. Legal rights come next. What remains is divided among the closest surviving relatives.
Legal rights are the part people rarely expect. A surviving spouse or civil partner, and the children, are entitled to a share of the moveable estate, meaning everything other than land and buildings. A will cannot take that away. Legal rights claims are one of the commonest causes of friction in Scottish executries, and one of the commonest reasons a family ends up in dispute.
Cohabitants are far weaker. An unmarried partner has no automatic entitlement and must apply to court within a strict time limit that is easily missed.
What an executor must not do
Do not distribute before debts and taxes are settled. Do not ignore a legal rights claim. Do not favour one beneficiary over another, and never mix estate money with your own. You can be both executor and beneficiary, which is common and perfectly proper, but the two roles must be kept separate.
How long does it take?
A simple estate is often complete within six to nine months. Confirmation itself takes a few weeks once lodged, but selling a property, waiting on pension providers or resolving tax can add a good deal to that. We will give you a realistic timescale rather than an optimistic one.
Contact our executry solicitors in Glasgow
Losing a loved one is hard enough. Dealing with the loss is difficult without a pile of forms on top of it, so our aim is to ease the burden of the legal side and handle the estate of a loved one with care and attention.
Call 0141 433 2626 or request a callback, and one of our executry lawyers in Glasgow will explain where you stand and what it will cost. Clarity Simplicity Ltd is regulated by the Law Society of Scotland.
We can also help you put your own affairs in order, with wills and powers of attorney.
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Glasgow
G3 6UR
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