This month, all legal practitioners will have access to HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s (HMCTS) online probate service due to rolling out their national pilot to professional applicants.
Originally only a small group of pre-selected solicitors were piloting the new online probate system but over time firms could apply to try out the new service. The service now allows legal professionals to make an application for any probate, intestacy or a grant of letters of administration with will-annexed application.
However, in the interim, the service for caveats will remain a paper application for legal professionals.
All law firms using the online service will be able to manage their own account on the system; have access to a single dashboard displaying all their probate applications; and keep abreast of their application online without the need to phone HMCTS for continuous updates.
Professionals users will be able to submit applications 24 hours a day which will be instantly uploaded to the system.
The only paper that HMCTS requires to be sent to the probate service is the original Will and Inheritance Tax (IHT) documentation – which will be automatically scanned and linked to the relevant file.
Chair of our Wills and Equity Committee Ian Bond and his firm, Talbots Law, have been part of the pilot from the outset. He states:
“Dealing with the administration of a loved one’s estate can be complicated. Part of that process is the application for a grant of representation.
“Depending on the nature, complexity and value of a deceased persons estate will determine the administrative process required to obtain the necessary grant.
“The digitisation of the process to apply for the grant of representation means that in most uncontested applications the online service has made the system much easier for our solicitors and a better experience for our clients.
“Whilst the online system started with applications where a will existed it has developed and will continue to be developed to cover a broader range of applications in the future.
“We look forward to working with HMCTS for the continued development and welcome the fact that more solicitors can join the scheme and see the benefits it brings to the firm and its clients.”
For more details and to register to sign up for the new service click here.
