Registered number: 10816512.
Registered office: Squiggle Consult Ltd, Suite 2069, Letraset Building, Wotton Road, Ashford, Kent, TN23 6LN
Squiggle Consult Ltd. is a limited company registered in England and Wales.
Administering an estate can take months of paperwork, and executors are personally liable for any mistakes. Estate administration is the process of dealing with someone's legal, tax and financial affairs after they die: gathering in their assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing what remains to the beneficiaries. Every estate needs administering to some extent; the question is how much help you want with it.
This guide covers the whole process from valuation to final accounts, and what we can take off your hands. If the death was recent, start with What to Do When Someone Dies. If you want to understand the role you are taking on, and exactly what that personal liability means, read Being an Executor.
The first task is to establish what the person owned and what they owed. Everything they owned, less everything they owed, makes up the net estate. Some items may need a professional valuation: shares, businesses, personal possessions of significant value, or an interest in a property. Keep a clear written record of every asset and liability you identify; this forms the basis for the HMRC return and the estate accounts.
It helps to think in categories:
Even where no Inheritance Tax is payable, the estate's value must be reported. Many straightforward estates are "excepted estates", which means no full tax account is needed and the values are simply declared within the probate application. Broadly, an estate is excepted where its gross value does not exceed the £325,000 nil rate band, or £650,000 where a full unused nil rate band can be transferred from a spouse or civil partner who died first, with limits on trust assets, foreign assets and lifetime gifts. Forms IHT205 and IHT217 were withdrawn for deaths on or after 1 January 2022. Larger or more complex estates, and any estate claiming the residence nil rate band, must send HMRC a full account on form IHT400. Any tax due must be paid by the end of the sixth month after the month in which the person died, and the account itself must be delivered within twelve months of the end of the month of death.
Inheritance Tax (IHT), the tax charged on estates above a certain value, is a complex area. The standard rate is 40% on the value above the nil-rate band (the tax-free threshold). There are reliefs and exemptions that can significantly reduce a liability, and getting the calculation right matters. We will never guarantee a particular tax outcome, but we will make sure the right professionals review every claim. For a full picture of how IHT works, see our Inheritance Tax: The Squiggle Approach and Inheritance Tax Mitigation factsheets.
The Grant of Probate (sometimes just called "the Grant") is the court document that proves the executors' authority to deal with the estate. Without it, banks, building societies and the Land Registry will typically not release funds or transfer property.
Not every estate needs a Grant. Small estates (typically those with no property and limited savings) may be dealt with on the basis of a death certificate alone; each institution sets its own threshold. If you are not sure whether you need one, ask us.
The application for the Grant is supported by a statement of truth and, where required, HMRC's confirmation that the tax position is in order.
The application fee is £526 where the estate is worth more than £5,000. There is no fee at all if the estate is £5,000 or less. Sealed copies of the Grant, which banks and other institutions will want, cost £2 each if you order them with the application and £16 each if you order them afterwards, so it is worth ordering enough at the outset. A second or subsequent grant costs £22. Caveats and standing searches cost £4 each. Depositing or inspecting a Will costs £24.
There is also no fee where the death qualifies for exemption under sections 153A, 154 or 155A of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, which cover certain deaths of members of the armed forces and of emergency service personnel. If that might apply, tell us and we will check it before the application goes in.
GOV.UK currently says you will usually get the Grant within 12 weeks of submitting the application. That is the same figure whether you apply online or on paper. Complex applications, stopped applications and anything where HMRC has queries will take longer, and we will tell you if we think yours is one of them.
Where the person died without a Will (called dying intestate), there is no executor. Instead, an administrator (usually the closest surviving relative) applies for a Grant of Letters of Administration, which serves the same purpose. Squiggle can arrange the Grant in either case.
Once the Grant is in hand, the practical work of gathering the estate begins. This involves:
Keep estate money entirely separate from your own. Open a dedicated estate bank account to hold funds until distribution. Mixing estate and personal money, even innocently, is hard to unpick and easy to be accused over.
Before any beneficiary receives a penny, all the estate's debts must be paid. This includes:
Once debts are settled, any specific gifts in the Will (called "legacies") are paid, for example, a named sum of money to a grandchild, or a piece of jewellery to a friend.
What remains is the "residue" (whatever is left after debts, taxes and specific gifts), which passes to the residuary beneficiaries. Where professional executors act, distributions are normally held back until six months after the Grant, which is the window for certain claims against the estate. Our Being an Executor factsheet explains who can bring such a claim, and why the six months runs from the Grant rather than from the death.
Before the estate is closed, the executor prepares estate accounts: a full record of what came in, what went out and what is being distributed to whom. Beneficiaries are usually asked to sign a receipt. If HMRC correspondence is outstanding, it must be concluded before the estate can be formally wound up. If part of the estate is to stay in trust, the appropriate arrangements will be put in place, see our Trust Administration factsheet for more detail.
It depends on the estate, and we aim to give you a realistic estimate at the start. As a rough guide:
Within that, GOV.UK currently says you will usually get the Grant within 12 weeks of applying.
Property sales, HMRC processing times and the speed of third-party institutions are often outside anyone's control. We will keep you informed throughout so you always know where things stand.
Squiggle can take on as much or as little of the estate administration as you wish, from arranging the Grant of Probate to handling everything end to end, while you focus on your family. Book a call with a consultant or call 01233 659 796.
Imagine Margaret, who died leaving a house worth £320,000, two bank accounts totalling £45,000, an ISA worth £18,000 and household contents valued at £4,000. She had a small credit card balance of £1,200 and outstanding utility bills of £300. Her Will named her daughter Helen as executor and left the estate equally to Helen and her brother James.
The gross estate was £387,000, with debts of around £1,500, giving a net estate of £385,500. That exceeded the £325,000 nil rate band, so the estate did not qualify as an excepted estate and a full account was needed. Because the house passed to Margaret's children, the residence nil rate band of £175,000 could be claimed, taking the tax-free allowance to £500,000. The residence nil rate band can only be claimed on a full IHT400 with form IHT435, so that is what we filed, and no Inheritance Tax was payable. Helen instructed Squiggle. We valued the estate, prepared and filed the IHT400 and IHT435, arranged the Grant of Probate, sold the property, closed the bank accounts and ISA, paid the debts, and distributed the residue equally to Helen and James, with full estate accounts at each stage.
Sadly, estates sometimes lead to disagreement: challenges to a Will's validity, disputes between beneficiaries and executors, or arguments over how assets should be divided or valued. These situations are emotionally charged, and we approach them with care.
Common sources of dispute include:
We do not advise on disputes ourselves. What we can do is help you instruct specialist contentious probate solicitors promptly and support you practically alongside them, so matters are resolved as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.
Distributing before it is safe to. Debts and taxes come first, and the residue should normally wait until six months after the Grant, when the window for claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 has closed. Pay out before either of those is settled and the shortfall can land on the executor personally.
Missing the Inheritance Tax deadline. Inheritance Tax is due by the end of the sixth month after the month of death, and HMRC charges interest from that date at 7.75% (the rate since 9 January 2026, being the Bank of England base rate plus four percentage points). On a £160,000 bill that is a little over £1,000 a month. The account itself, form IHT400, must be delivered within twelve months of the end of the month of death, or within three months of the personal representatives first acting, whichever is later. Where the estate includes property, tax can be paid in ten annual instalments, but interest still runs.
Mixing estate and personal funds. Always keep estate money in a separate account.
Ignoring smaller assets. Premium bonds, small savings accounts, outstanding tax refunds and utility deposits all belong to the estate. They may be individually small but collectively significant.
Not placing a statutory notice for creditors. A formal notice in the London Gazette (and a local newspaper) inviting creditors to come forward gives executors protection against unknown debts that emerge after distribution. It is not mandatory, but it is sensible.
Administering an estate yourself can take a significant amount of time, and the responsibility for getting it right, including the tax returns and every claim made or missed, sits with the executor throughout. Many people prefer to hand it to a specialist.
We charge a fixed fee for grant only work, where we obtain the Grant of Probate and you deal with the rest yourself. For full estate administration we charge either a fixed fee or a capped fee, agreed with you before we start.
What we never do is charge a percentage of the estate. Much of the market still does, which means the bill rises simply because the house is worth more, not because the work took any longer. We would rather price the job itself.
Every estate is different, so we assess each one on its own merits. We will look at what is actually involved in yours and agree the fee in writing before you commit to anything. Call us on 01233 659 796 for a clear, no-obligation conversation about how we can help.
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This factsheet is general information for England and Wales, not legal, tax or financial advice. Worked examples are hypothetical and for illustration only. Last reviewed: August 2026.
Registered number: 10816512.
Registered office: Squiggle Consult Ltd, Suite 2069, Letraset Building, Wotton Road, Ashford, Kent, TN23 6LN
Squiggle Consult Ltd. is a limited company registered in England and Wales.
