Probate Licence for Accountants

We are delighted to announce that Key Business Consultants have passed the exams to apply for our probate license.

A probate licence concerns the administering of the estate of a deceased person in order to resolve all claims and distribute the deceased person’s property as per their final wishes.

Accountants have always typically played an important part in helping finalise the administration of an estate. However, it is only since 2014 that they have been able to apply for a licence to handle the full probate services. The only probate matter where a solicitor was previously required was the preparation of the Executor’s Oath but this Reserved Legal Activity is now permissible via the ICAEW.

Licencing for Accountants

The ICAEW (of which we are a member) is an approved regulator and licensing authority for probate services and Key Business Consultants are now able to apply for accreditation to offer probate services. We are delighted to be able to offer our clients a very high standard of probate work whilst at the same time offering a good value alternative to using a law firm for probate services.

We can also help with other work such as negotiating valuations with HMRC to ensure that the amount of tax payable is as low as possible.

It is hard to estimate how long probate can take. A simple probate case usually takes around six months. More complex cases can take twelve months or even longer.

Contentious Matters

It is always our intention to be able to deal sensitively with family members. Our goal is to remove some of the inevitable stresses and strains of dealing with probate matters.

A solicitor may also be required where there are contentious probate matters. We are trained in understanding when non-contentious probate becomes contentious. As such, we are moving, like most accounting firms, towards a hybrid accounting-legal practice. This is an example of an Alternative Business Structures (ABS) structure.

This will allow us to offer more legal services and to provide a more complete service to you.