Trusts, Estates & Tax: what makes a winning team - Part 4

In October 2023, the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Law Society awarded me (Louise Lewis) “Lawyer of the Year” in recognition of my work with my team, with my community and with the legal profession, including my voluntary work with STEP. I was very quick to publish my thoughts to say that this was not my award, but my team’s award and that everything we do, we do as a team. I therefore wanted to take the opportunity this year to showcase the team and to let everyone know about the work that we do.

Next to be profiled is Associate, Sofia Tavener and below is an example of her recent work.

Acting for the mother of the deceased’s son (a minor) when the mother was engaged to the deceased: rules of intestacy & expedited grant of administration - estate administration case study 

This was a poignant case and one which raises important and complex legal issues, both because of the operation of the rules of intestacy and the urgency to administer the estate to obtain estate funds. 

The deceased passed away without a Will and was engaged to our client who was pregnant at the time with the deceased’s child. Their child was born a few months after the deceased’s death and is currently very young. Our client is named on the child’s birth certificate as the mother and therefore has full parental responsibility for the child. 

The deceased’s estate passes in accordance with the statutory rules of intestacy.  Under the intestacy rules, the sole beneficiary of his estate is his minor child as the sole surviving issue of the deceased (the position would have been different if the deceased married his fiancée before his death, in which case spouse exemption would also have applied for inheritance tax purposes). The funds are held in trust for the benefit of the minor child until the child turns 18. 

As the individual with parental responsibility for the deceased’s minor child, our client is entitled to apply to administer the deceased’s estate.  A second personal representative is also required to take out the grant of representation and the child’s mother can nominate that second personal representative.  Our client wished to be appointed as administrator of the deceased’s estate and chose to appoint this firm’s trust corporation, Freeths Trustees Limited, to act as the second personal representative alongside her. Freeths’ trust corporation regularly acts as a personal representative and trustee for clients – the fact that it is a professional and independent appointment is often invaluable, especially where there are complex circumstances.

This case was especially important to progress quickly because of the financial hardship that would otherwise have applied to our client as a result of the delay in the grant being issued under current normal timescales for grant applications (since the deceased’s funds are not accessible for the benefit of the deceased’s child until the grant has issued). We therefore successfully applied to the Probate Registry for an expedited grant of letters of administration using a particular process to obtain the grant from the Probate Registry more quickly than normal.  The expedited grant means that the personal representatives have access to the deceased’s funds sooner than normal, which enables them to settle the estate expenses and also to apply the funds for the benefit the deceased’s child as appropriate.

Sofia and our team are well placed to deal with technically difficult and emotionally difficult situations, so please reach out for our help.