Wills and Probate

The person or persons appointed in a will to deal with the administration of a deceased person’s estate. This could involve dealing with the deceased’s bank account, selling properties and distributing money to the beneficiaries named in the will.

The process of dealing with a deceased person’s legal and tax affairs. This can include dealing with bank accounts, pensions, personal belongings, property, paying debts, liabilities and any inheritance tax due.

The assets and liabilities of someone who has died. This includes any property, savings and investments and belongings and any outstanding debts. It is the responsibility of executors or administrators to ensure that the debts are paid from the estate and that beneficiaries receive the amounts due to them.

A person formally appointed by the Court of Protection to look after the affairs of a person who can no longer do so themselves, where they have not made a Lasting Power of Attorney.

A discretionary trust, as the name suggest, ensures that the assets and any income belonging to the trust is managed and used entirely at the discretion of the trustees. The trust will name more than one beneficiary (referred to as a class of beneficiaries) and it is for the trustees to decide which beneficiaries will receive trust assets, whether this is income or capital payments or the right to live in a house owned by the trust. This means that a beneficiary cannot claim a right to any specific trust asset and those assets cannot be considered theirs for tax purposes or considered in a financial assessment for care fees.

A document used to make adjustments to the way a deceased person’s estate is distributed.

The Court of Protection is responsible for protecting and overseeing the interests of people who are unable to do so for themselves owing to illness or lack of capacity and who have not made a Lasting Power of Attorney.

A person or organisation that is owed money for a loan or provision of a good or service by a person or organisation. When a person dies, debts to creditors must be paid out of the estate before any inheritance can be disbursed.

Items of value. These can include land, buildings, money held in bank accounts and investments, as well as personal items such as vehicles, furniture, art and jewellery.

A discount for tax purposes on the value of actively farmed agricultural land and property as part of a deceased person’s estate. When determining the value of an estate’s assets in order to calculate inheritance tax, you or your executors may be able to claim agricultural property relief, which reduces the value of agricultural land or pasture by either 100% or 50% so long as it was occupied by the owner for agricultural purposes for at least two years up to the transfer/death; or, in the case of tenanted land, it was owned for at least seven years up to the transfer/death and used for agricultural purposes during that time. Farm buildings, the farm house and woodland can also qualify subject to certain conditions.

The following assets do not qualify for agricultural property relief:

• farm equipment and machinery
• harvested crops
• derelict buildings i.e. buildings no longer capable of being used for agricultural purposes
• livestock
• property for sale for which contracts have been exchanged

The person (often a relative) approved by the Probate Registry to deal with the estate of someone who has died without making a will.
The term can also mean an Insolvency Practitioner responsible for running a company that has entered Administration.