Probate

Helping you with probate

Walker & Morrell Funeral Directors is working with the National Bereavement Service (NBS), a not-for-profit organisation, to assist and support customers and their families. NBS provides practical advice post funeral to help when dealing with legal issues, many of which may be unfamiliar.

Probate is a legal term which means the official proving of a will. You ‘apply for probate’ to have the legal right to deal with someone’s land, property, money and possessions, in other words their ‘estate’.

If the person that has passed away has made a will, they will have appointed an Executor, and may have even identified a legal firm to deal with the probate. Fortunately in most cases the process is simple and straightforward. We can help if you need guidance on DIY probate. If there is no will it can be a little more complicated and the will is resolved according to the Rules of Intestacy.

How to apply

To apply for probate you make the application to the Probate Registry and this gives the Executors named in the application the authority to act in the administration of the estate of the deceased. There are a number of stages to go through when dealing with the administration process and it can vary depending on where you are in the UK.

NBS can help guide you through all of this, call them free on 0800 0246 121 Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 1pm or visit them at www.theNBS.org where you’ll find more useful information. 

Useful links:

Applying for probate

Intestacy – Who inherits when there is no will?

Dealing the estate of someone who has died

Valuing the estate of someone who has died

Stopping a probate application

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Featured Reviews

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Can't fault them at all

Colin Stratton

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Natalie handled our case with nothing but compassion, respect and kindness with our baby Teddys funeral. We genuinely wouldn’t of been able to cope as well if it wasn’t for Natalie helping us along the way and giving us the best opportunity of having such…

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Walker and Morrell provided outstanding care and professionalism at a very difficult time. They were compassionate, respectful and made the entire process feel calm and well managed. We are very grateful for their support and would highly recommend them to anyone needing a funeral director.…

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I would like to thank Nicola for taking care of my Mam and looking after me and my family during a very sad and difficult time. Nicola is professional, respectful, compassionate and friendly, also many thanks to Hayley for being there for us when we…

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Nicola helped guide us through the most difficult time of our lives after our son, Robin, was born sleeping. She was incredibly kind and patient with us during the whole process - we had (thankfully) never needed to plan a funeral before so really didn’t…

Kate Bell

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Through the hardest time of my life everyone made it so smooth and issue free. Massive thank you to Natalie and Conor. Cant thank you guys enough…

Julie Middleton

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We recently had the funeral of Sister Assumpta, of Oaklea Convent, Sunderland.I can highly recommend Walker and Morrell, and especially Aimee Hughes. All was perfectly done and the family were all very happy at the professionalism and attention to detail. Many thanks to all involved.…

Patricia Shoulder

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At a time in your life when you lose someone you love dearly you are full of sadness and anxiety about their passing. The next stage is their funeral and our family were very fortunate my loved one pre booked their funeral with Walker &…

Angela Lawson

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I would like to thank Nicola for taking care of my Mam and looking after me and my family during a very sad and difficult time. Nicola is professional, respectful, compassionate and friendly, also many thanks to Hayley for being there for us when we…

Annette Graham

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For ny Dads funeral we mainly dealt with Nicola who was amazing. Switched on, respectful, organised, compassionate. Skills which are hard to find in one person but she had them all. She also managed our very specific wishes with ease and attention to every detail.…

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