We’re Licensed to Provide Probate Services

Benjamin Franklin once said ‘Nothing is certain except death and taxes’ and who could argue with that. Having been around for 25 years providing advice on taxes (and accountancy, payroll, bookkeeping etc.) we are now officially launching a brand new service of probate. So we are now ready and able to advise on the two certainties in life!

On 1^st March 2017 we became accredited by our institute (ICAEW- Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales) as a licensed firm to provide non-contentious probate services.

Why come to Friend & Grant for Probate?

Probate has historically always been dealt with by solicitors or banks. Accountants haven’t traditionally offered probate services, in fact as a reserved legal service as a profession we were unable to do so until 2014.

Now however we can carry out this work. We believe that we offer a far better proposition and here’s why:

• For our existing clients we have a detailed knowledge of their financial affairs and we are therefore uniquely placed to deal with the collation of information required to complete the probate paperwork. If we are dealing with the passing of a family member we hope that having an existing relationship can ease the process compared with having to deal with a completely new professional from an unfamiliar firm.
• For people who have not used our services before please note that we have built our practice around a group of talented and personable staff, many of whom have worked for us for some time. Also forming part of our work family are our clients. We’ve strived to build up excellent relationships. We respond promptly to emails and telephone calls and make sure we’re available to meet people whenever required. Friendliness starts from the moment our clients enter the building and meet Julie or Paige on reception, as any of our clients will testify, and continues throughout their dealings with our team. We recognise that at a time of bereavement it is particularly important that we deal with people in a caring and sensitive manner. We pledge to keep our probate clients fully informed on our progress and developments and to be available for as many conversations and meetings as they need.
• Our tax manager, Jan Friend, is a chartered tax adviser of 30 years experience. She has provided bespoke inheritance tax advice for many clients with a whole variety of wishes and needs. Additionally she has on many occasions assisted people with the completion of Inheritance Tax forms on behalf of personal representatives of estates. Jan will be able to assist with the whole probate service from start to finish, including sorting out any tax arising during the period of administration. In addition, at the end of that process, if required, she will review the estate of the beneficiaries to ensure that their assets are protected from unnecessary inheritance tax liabilities.

Word has started to get around and our probate department is getting increasingly busy, but we are genuinely passionate about providing this service and are therefore keen to expand this area further.

If you want to find out more about our probate services then please contact Jan Friend.

The content in this blog is correct as at 31st October 2018. See terms and conditions.