What happens to your Facebook account when you die? Facebook has provision to 'memorialise' the profile of a loved one that has passed.  A relatively new aspect to probate for executors to deal with is what to do with social media accounts/profiles (often referred to as our 'digital estate').  Here we [...]

What happens to your TikTok profile when you die? You should make plans for what should happen to your TikTok profile when you die.  Unlike Facebook, TikTok currently has no opportunity for your profile to be memorialised.  It is simply a case of the profile remaining online, or being deleted.  The [...]

What happens to your X (Twitter) account when you die? Social media (and generally online accounts) provide a new aspect to probate for executors.  The explosion of the internet means that few corners of our lives are free from online accounts of come form or other.  But what about when we [...]

Probate - What if a beneficiary is under 18? Trustees have various way of paying money to beneficiaries ahead of them reaching 18 (or older).  If your will makes gifts to minors, your executors/trustees can make payments to minor beneficiaries before they reach 18.  There are various ways of doing so.  [...]

Probate - How do you Register a Death? Following the loss of a loved one, you must formally register their death with a local registrar.  Registering the death of a loved one is a straightforward process.  Here, we explain what needs to be done.  We have assumed for the purposes of [...]

Probate - How many Death Certificates do I need when I register the death? Death Certificates are issued by the Registrar when you formally register the death.  Executors will need death certificates to show (‘exhibit’) to the various banks, share registrars, and so on, when they ‘establish the estate’ (ie gather [...]

Probate - what happens when someone dies at home? Wherever someone dies, their cause of death must be confirmed by a medical practitioner.  Dependant on the circumstances, you should first contact either their GP or phone for an ambulance.  Obviously, they may be dead, or alternatively seriously ill (hence who you [...]

Probate - What if I don’t want to be Executor of a Will? Being appointed an executor in a will does not mean that you are obliged to take the appointment.  So, you’ve been appointed an executor in a will, and the testator (the person that made the will) has died.  [...]

Probate - What happens to the body after someone dies? What happens to the body after death will depend on a number of factors.  Following death, what happens to our body will depend on a number of things including: where we die how died was our passing ‘expected’ For the purposes [...]

Executors Guide to the Stages of Probate Estate administration (sometimes called ‘probate’) is simple on the face of it – but can be frustrating!  Probate is in fact the name of the legal document that gives the appointed executors the authority to deal with the administration of an estate (the ‘grant [...]