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  1. #1
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    Default Index of Wills & Administrations

    Have I got this right ? If I find a name in this index and it says "Administration to ..... Mrs Bloggs ..... effects £X.." then there is no will, and there is only a will if the word "Probate" occurs ?

    If I accidentally ordered and paid for a will where no will exists would I be refunded my £10 ?

  2. #2
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    1. I think you have it correct.

    2. I doubt it very much. See: https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

  3. #3
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    thanks. Yes I thought that might be the case.

    The thing is, the "Administration" entries look very similar to the "Probate" entries - in that there is an administration district (different to where the person died) and an administration date (different to the date of death) - so the entries look very similar except for that one word difference, it seems to me.

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    A lot of probate/administration areas are different to the place of death - often the other side of the country, even though there are places nearer. My mum and dad's probate office was Ipswich (Suffolk) though they lived in Lincolnshire. I could understand that happening in wartime, but not today.

    Probate/administration date will be different from the date of death because usually when someone dies there are more important things to sort out (funeral, for one) than getting probate/administration.

    Pam
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  5. #5
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    thanks. I'm a bit confused though. If there is no will what is being administered at the probate/administraion office ?

  6. #6
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    I was my mother's executor, and as her Will left everything to Dad, initially I had no intention of going through probate, because I went to the bank with her Will, her death certificate and they transferred the accounts to Dad, the mortgage etc. - no problem, with anything until I tried to transfer a share certificate for British Gas worth about £50, and they refused to so without a deed of probate.

    So I had to go through all the hoops to get one, but as I live in Lancashire and my parents lived in North Wales, it more convenient for me to go to my local probate office, and that is what I did. So that is why probate might be granted in a location that has nothing to do with the deceased.

    If there is no Will, there is still an estate that needs to be disposed off in accords with the laws of intestacy, and to that you need a grant of administration, even if the estate only consists of £5 in bank account. A bank will not give "the next of kin" that £5 without a grant of administration. Equally an intestate estate could be worth millions.

    It is not the probate office that administers anything. They arrange for the High Court to issue a grant of Administration to someone to deal with an intestate estate. It says something like: "Be it known that X of Y died on A intestate. And be it further known that Administration of all the estate by which law devolves to and vests in the personal representative of the said deceased was granted by the High Court of Justice on this date to B of C."

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    thank you very much, that all makes sense to me.

  8. #8
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    Once a person is deceased, all assetts etc are frozen,an executor is appointed to act in connection with the deceased's estate.

    A Grant of Probate is the instrument that authorises a person / executor to collect and distribute all monies of the deceased it is either a single sheet or the front cover with the will attached.

    Banks, credit lenders etc usually require the Grant as proof that they are paying/collecting the monies to/from the correct person(s).
    The Grant is only acceptable if the Probate Office embossed mark is on it. Sometimes you will find on the reverse a stamp of the business etc that has seen it.

    A Will is the deceaseds's intentions as to how the monies are to be distributed and is formally witnessed at the time of making.

    Letters of Administration are granted by a probate office to appoint appropriate people to deal with a deceased person's estate where property will pass under Intestacy Rules or where there are no executors living

    You can use any Probate office convenient for the Executor or Solicitors appointed. My own father's was dealt with in Liverpool, the office closest to the legals, whereas mother's was dealt with in Manchester for my convenience!

    These days there is a time period to make an application for a Grant ( Inheritance Tax being one of the reasons....), when looking historically it is not unusual to find the Grant a couple of years after the deceased's death.

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    I just want to make 100% sure I have understood this. I've selected a name at random from the Index of Wills - Beatrice May Bate, died 23 October 1934, Calstock, Cornwall. There is no will obtainable here, correct ? But there would be one obtainable for the person below her in the list, Charles Henry Bate, died 5 May 1934, of the Poor Law Institution ?

  10. #10
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    Charles Henry Bate, died 5 May 1934
    You've chosen a special case! Administration (with will) usually implies that the executor named in the will is unavailable and therefore administration has been awarded to someone else.

    It's perfectly straightforward. "Probate" means there's a will. "Administration with Will" means there is a will. "Administration" means there's no will.

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