Berry & Lamberts Solicitors’ 270 year history enables the firm’s friendly and ‘human’ teams to draw on a wealth of experience to provide dependable advice in a relaxed, professional environment. Berry & Lamberts has offices in Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks and Paddock Wood in Kent serving individuals and businesses in the West Kent community, the South East and all over England and Wales.
David Lea, partner and head of private client department at Berry & Lamberts confirms: “We tend to work with families over many years and we often handle probate cases on our clients’ behalf.
“Families come to us with information when a loved one has passed away but the picture can be incomplete. Therefore, our best practice approach is to use Estatesearch for asset and liability searches where we are executors. We also use Estatesearch for a range of additional services which support our administrative processes, as well as saving time and therefore costs for our clients.
“The unclaimed assets search is particularly helpful, as these days most banking is all online. Previously, we could rely on bank statements but paper trails do not exist like they once did. Even if statements are emailed, if the family doesn’t have access to that particular email account, an account could be missed. Through the Financial Profile Search, Estatesearch contacts a wide range of institutions on our behalf which enables us to make further enquires to establish all assets held.
“And those assets can change over time. Financial companies merge or become acquired. This means accounts can be held in a company with an entirely different name as time goes by. Estatesearch’s asset search looks back over several years, so we can double check if a profile match is identified with an unknown company name too.
“During my career there have been several examples where unknown assets have been discovered following a search. We had worked with one family for many years and had helped them with property purchases and other legal advice. As executors on the estate of an elderly family member who had passed away, we undertook a Financial Profile Search. To the family’s surprise we discovered a life insurance policy held in trust worth £11,000 which was paid out tax free to the beneficiaries. We also discovered a pension worth £4,000 which the family were unaware of too.
“It’s these kinds of examples which show the importance of the information in our client care letter, where we advise lay executors about their duty to investigate assets and offer the option of an asset search. For clients, a search offers peace of mind that nothing has been overlooked. Where we are executors, if necessary, we can use the reports to prove to HMRC that we have done everything we can to identify all the assets within an estate.
“We also use Estatesearch to place Section 27 Notices, and also for pre-distribution Bankruptcy checks both domestically and internationally. Estatesearch offers a High Net Worth search which includes additional institutions and a Digital Asset Search which are both helpful in some circumstances. As cryptocurrency accounts are becoming ever more popular, checking for digital assets will be even more important in the future.
“The searches are all ordered through Estatesearch’s free online portal which is intuitive and easy to use. Combined packages are cost effective for clients as they cover so many bases.
“In the New Year, we also plan to work with Estatesearch to complete a Will Bank Cleanse. As a firm with a history dating back 270 years, naturally we have a substantial Will Bank. We can’t destroy Wills unless we have evidence that someone has passed away, so we keep Wills for 130 years. The Will Bank Cleanse will allow us to fully update our records. With current information, it will also mean that we can contact people who have changed addresses to see if they need to engage with us.
“Estatesearch offers a comprehensive range of services which help streamline administration, saving time and costs because everything is in one place. As the company has grown they have expanded their team and so customer service has remained excellent. There is never a delay if we need a quote or any help. We absolutely recommend Estatesearch to other private client practitioners.”
For further information about Estatesearch please see: https://www.estatesearch.co.uk/
For further information about Berry & Lamberts Solicitors please see: https://www.berryandlamberts.co.uk
This article was submitted by Estatesearch as part of an advertising agreement with Today’s Wills and Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.
