If you have been named as an executor in a person's Will that has sadly passed away, you Will have a range of responsibilities and duties to fulfil as part of dealing with their estate. One vital element Will be to locate and document all of their assets, even one that may be hidden.
In this guide, we Will explain what hidden assets are and the steps you can take to locate them for Probate.
What are hidden assets?
Hidden assets are assets that are difficult to locate due to poor documentation of the person that has died. This situation can easily occur if the deceased person was very secretive about their assets or if they developed health issues that may have affected their memory before they passed away.
Types of hidden assets are commonly found in the forms of:
- Banks and building societies
- Personal pensions
- Loans
- DWP pensions
- Investments
- Life insurance policies
- Stocks and shares
- Bonds
- Savings
Why do you need to locate hidden assets during probate?
It’s important that you make the effort to locate and document all of the deceased’s assets when applying for probate as it Will affect the grant of probate application as well as the inheritance tax application that must be made to HMRC. As inheritance tax may need to be paid on the estate, HMRC Will need to be provided with the values of every asset so that they can calculate the total amount owed.
If an incorrect figure is provided and assets are found later on after probate has been completed, you could become liable as an Executor for the additional inheritance tax, interest owed and penalty payments. It could also cause issues with beneficiaries as they Will need to be informed and then the assets Will need to be distributed as per stirpes.
You might also like to read: How to find a Will
What steps should you take to locate the hidden assets?
If you are named as an executor for an estate and think that the person that has passed may have owned assets that have not been initially accounted for, there are steps that you can take to try and locate any missing or hidden assets before applying for probate or contacting HMRC about Inheritance Tax.
Your first action should be to search the person's home or place of residence for any paperwork that might hold information about accounts or assets. You should keep an eye out for any bank statements that show regular payments being made/received or correspondence letters and emails from institutions (if you have access to any digital accounts) that could detail key information.
Another option to assist with the above is to ask close family members if they have any knowledge of the deceased’s assets, however, this can be risky and cause conflict if they are not a beneficiary or in a state of grieving.
Once you have gathered any evidence of hidden assets that are not included within the Will, you Will then need to contact the institutions that are linked to them to inform them of the death and request any information that is held about the asset. You Will usually have to provide them with a copy of the death certificate or a copy of the person's Will which also proves that you are the Executor before they Will share any information.
Finally, you could pay for a professional search to try and locate the hidden or forgotten assets. A professional search can locate a wide variety of assets that could be worth thousands of pounds and can also be used as proof that great effort was made to locate anything that wasn’t originally recorded within the estate.
How can Wills Services help you?
Will Services offers a full range of probate services that include fixed fee/rate professional executor and estate administration services from only 1% of the estate value or a minimum fee of £2400.
Should you wish to speak to one of our legal advisors, simply fill in our online contact form below and one of our helpful legal representatives Will call you back to have a no-obligation chat about how we can help you.
If you’d like to start preparing your own Will online for as little as £41.99, click here to register.
