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10 Wills and Probate
Download Wills and Probate (PDF File 348kb)
5. What does an executor or administrator do?
7. Will I have to pay inheritance tax?
8. Who takes charge if there is no will?
9. Who gets the estate if there is no will?
10. What can I do if I think there is something wrong with the will?
11. What can I do if I think the will is unfair?
12. What if there isn´t enough money to pay for the funeral?
13. What if there isn´t enough money to pay the person´s debts?
14. Terms used in wills and probate matters
Community Legal Service Direct
Provides free information direct to the public on a range of common legal problems.
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If you qualify for legal aid, you can also get free advice from a specialist legal adviser about benefits and tax credits, debt, education, employment and housing. You can also find a local legal adviser or solicitor.
Click www.clsdirect.org.uk to find out more.
Probate registries
There are probate registries in cities and larger towns. The Probate and Inheritance Tax Helpline will tell you where your nearest registry is, and can also answer questions and send you information about applying for probate or letters of administration.
phone: 0845 302 0900
There is also a list of probate registries on the Courts Service website:
www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/civil/probate/registries.htm
Law Society
phone: 020 7242 1222
website: www.lawsociety.org.uk
The London Gazette
phone: 0870 600 3322
website: www.gazettes-online.co.uk
Citizens Advice
Your local Citizens Advice Bureau is listed in the phone book
website: www.citizensadvice.org.uk/cabdir.ihtml
The Community Legal Service
The Community Legal Service has been set up to help you find the right legal information and advice to solve your problems.
You can get help through a national network of organisations including Citizens Advice Bureaux, Law Centres, many independent advice centres and thousands of high street solicitors. All of these services meet quality standards set by the Legal Services Commission, look for the Community Legal Service logo:
Many of the organisations offer some or all of the their services for free. If you cannot afford to pay for advice you may be eligible for financial support through the Community Legal Service Fund (Legal Aid). You can order leaflets about funding from the LSC Leaflet line on 0845 3000 343.
You can use the Directory on the Community Legal Advice website http://www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk/ to find details of quality assured advice providers.
The Legal Services Commission (LSC)
The Community Legal Service and the Community Legal Service Fund are managed by the Legal Services Commission. To find out more about us visit our website at http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/ or find the details for your local Legal Services Commission office in the phone book.
More about the CLS Quality Mark
Use the Directory
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The leaflets in this series give you an outline of your legal rights. They are not a complete guide to the law, nor do they explain how the law will apply to you or to any specific situation. The leaflets are regularly updated, but the law may have changed since this was printed, so information in it may be incorrect or out of date.
If you have a problem, you will need to get more information or personal advice to work out the best way to solve it. See above for sources of information and advice.
This leaflet is published by the Legal Services Commission (LSC).
Leaflet version: January 2009
