What are Letters of Administration?

This was the first Probate I’d applied for. Initially, I assumed I’d have no choice but to go via a solicitor who would have asked me to gather all the information required yet charge thousands of pounds for the service. After carrying out further research online, I came across the YouCanDoProbate website, read their Trustpilot reviews and made some other sensible checks. I phoned them and had an initial conversation with Tom who was friendly and knowledgeable and asked several questions about the estate (it was over the individual IHT threshold but would be using the Transferable Nil Rate Band of a pre-deceased spouse) and he confirmed the platform would be able to deal with this. I was a little nervous initially about whether this was the right way forward but decided to go for it, signed up and paid the £499 fee which gave me access to the platform via my usual web browser so no special software needed. From then on, it was a relatively straightforward administrative task of putting in the information required. I loved that it saved all the information so that if I was interrupted or had to stop, I could just go back to it later and pick up where I’d left off. It went through the estate details very logically – personal info of all those involved – the deceased, pre-deceased spouse, executors, beneficiaries then assets, liabilities, expenses, gifts etc. After filling in all the required information, the platform then generated the Estate Summary (in my case showing there was no inheritance tax to pay and confirming that I didn’t have to fill in a separate form to send to HMRC). It had autofilled all the relevant information I’d input in the previous sections and made all the calculations for me with a detailed breakdown as to how the figures were arrived at. When I needed help and a bit of reassurance on 4 occasions via support ticket email, requesting a callback for a specific time or calling directly, Adam and Tom answered my queries quickly and knowledgeably and I was fully reassured that the forms had been completed correctly. Once I was satisfied with the Estate Summary details, I was able to move on and the system generated the autofilled Probate form which I could download and print off for review before signing. If anything needed to be amended, it was possible to go back and do so throughout the entire process before completing one stage and moving on to another. While I chose to complete the forms over the course of several days, I think it would be possible to complete the whole process in a few hours if there were no interruptions. On Thurs 28th May, I posted off the PA1P probate form with all the other relevant documents required including the probate fee postal orders (so no time waiting for a cheque to clear). I used the 1st class Royal Mail tracked service which was delivered the next day. I received an acknowledgement of receipt email on Mon 1 June with a reference number, another email on Tues 2 June confirming that Probate had been approved and, finally, on Thurs 4 June, I received the Grant of Probate letter in the post, 4 working days after sending off the application. I was expecting to have to wait 3 or 4 months for a response and am truly amazed at the speed of the turnaround. I cannot thank YouCanDoProbate enough. It is an amazing service, worth every penny of the £499 cost and I highly recommend it.

Easy to do. Help always available. And it costs a lot less than solicitors. Excellent service.

Solicitors wanted to charge me between £2300 and £2700! They made it sound very complicated. I contacted this firm who offered a fixed fee of £500. Their online platform was easy to follow. When I ran into a couple of things I wasn’t sure of I called their helpline. They guided me through those areas and it was all sorted and posted off the same day. The solicitors had quoted me six to twelve months to get the Grant. I’ve just received it in six weeks! I don’t normally bother with writing reviews but felt I had to with this firm. They were superb. I’m just coming up to eighty and hate form filling. If I can do it , anyone can. Excellent.

Highly recommend this company. The intuitive software is easy to use and the friendly and professional telephone support is excellent. On the advise of the team I posted off my documents as I had considered using the government online form assuming it may be quicker! However Probate was granted in 15 days from when I posted my documents. Thank you to all the team at You Can Do Probate for making a stressful and emotional task much easier to navigate without the need of expensive solicitors! Nb The only improvement that I feel would be beneficial is the function to print the breakdown of all the values and calculations

Brilliant website, made the probate process for my dad’s estate very easy, and simple to follow. Forms populated at the end with no bother at all, and downloaded easily. I only needed one question answered which I got with online chat immediately. Highly recommend. So much better than paying £££ for law firm to do it. Thank you!

I was so happy I found YouCanDoProbate. I did not even know where to start with this process but as soon as you register with them on line (and pay the fee) it guides you through step by step. You then just print off the the forms and send them off. It made a complicated system really simple for us.

YCDP really took the stress (as well as quite a lot of admin) out of the Probate application process. Very simple to follow, with clear instructions, and easy-to-follow User Guide. Thorough prompting ensures that you complete everything necessary at each stage before being allowed to print the final Probate application form. I only had to call for support once and my question was dealt with quickly and efficiently.

Questions were easy to read – specified what information was required. Showed what forms needed to be completed re inheritance tax and how to calculate it etc. Am dealing with a simple estate but was worth the cost for peace of mind – especially when I’ve read people pay solicitors thousands of pounds for the same service

Easy to understand, online forms easy to understand and complete. telephone back up very good

Excellent service received from You Can Do Probate. The staff were very helpful and friendly.

I would highly recommend this service, they go above and beyond to make sure you understand and can complete, they take away any hassle or concern, would give more than 5 stars if I could

My wife and I are sensible, educated and technical people but the probate system via the HMRC/Gov websites just left us confused. We searched for help and YouCanDoProbate appeared on a search. Reviews were good so thought we should try it out. It really has been the best money spent. The step by step process which then completes all the forms you require, not being able to proceed until the previous step is ready and the general hand-holding is excellent. I used the telephone support once for a quick a question, which was answered perfectly. Really appreciate the help during a testing time. Have already recommended and will continue to do so.