When an individual passes away the emotional impact on those surrounding them can, in the majority of cases, be absolutely devastating. During this time, focusing on the legal aspects that follow on from the death of the person is something often far from thought, but unfortunately needs to be dealt with promptly. This is where hiring a probate solicitor Emsworth comes in.
What is a ‘personal representative’?
When an individual is unable to deal with their financial affairs, a personal representative is put in place. This individual will therefore be in charge of the finances and property of the individual who may be too ill to deal with the issues or in most cases, will have passed away. In cases where the individual is deceased the personal representative or executor of the will, (if an individual has been named in the will), will need to follow a variety of legal processes to ensure that all assets are dealt with effectively and efficiently.
This particular role is often extremely stressful and mixed with the emotional impact of the passing of an individual, can be an extremely heavy burden to bear. Having a knowledgeable and experienced solicitor working alongside the personal representative therefore becomes a stable support during this difficult time.
When you are unlikely to need to hire a solicitor
For those that pass away leaving behind assets which are jointly owned or are under the value of £5000 the need for a solicitor is often unnecessary. If a will has been left behind, the personal representative or executor of the will, can distribute the assets accordingly and deal with any other aspects that may arise within the family. Due to the low value of the assets or the fact that a joint owner is in place, the distribution should remain relatively simple and be able to be dealt with without a grant of representation.
Choosing the right solicitor
When there is a need to employ a solicitor it is often easy to carry out a generic search via the internet which provides endless results, whilst some will be relevant, others not so much. For instance, if the word solicitor is entered into the search box, not only will it provide results from locations not necessarily local to the person, but it will also locate solicitors in all sorts of fields and not necessarily in the particular field sought after.
The first thing to ensure is that the solicitor has expertise within the legal field needed. Having an advisor who has successes within terrorism will be ineffective when facing estate distribution of a loved one. Once the search has been narrowed down to the correct type of legal advisor it is vital to locate their positive reviews and successful outcomes. This does not mean just the reviews of the associated law firm, if there is one, but the reviews and success of the individual solicitor. This process can be narrowed down repeatedly and then it comes down to the consultation and learning whether together an effective team can be created.
The effectiveness of the team, which is the client and the solicitor is of extreme importance as whilst the solicitor can advise and carry out the legal paperwork, the overall decisions are to be carried out by the client. Teamwork is therefore of the utmost importance to gain a successful outcome.
