Probate & Estate Administration

If you’re an executor, our award-winning solicitors are by your side. We can guide you through the process of applying for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration and assist with estate administration duties.

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Our award-winning private client team — one of the largest in the North — offers expert legal assistance and advice on probate and estate administration, making it as easy as possible for executors or administrators to carry out their legal duties.

Being an executor can be a time-consuming and daunting task — especially since it usually involves the estate of a close family member or friend.

From arranging the funeral to gathering details of a deceased person’s assets and any debts, filling in the HMRC inheritance tax forms and completing any probate application, our experienced solicitors will be with you throughout the process.

We can then help you to gather in the assets themselves and guide you through the potential next steps, including considering whether there are any opportunities to ensure that the estate is being administered in the most tax-efficient way possible. We can advise on Deeds of Variation to pass wealth to the next generation or use trusts to protect loved ones for the future.

We’ll ensure that the estate is distributed in accordance with the terms of the Will — giving executors peace of mind that everything has been dealt with appropriately and effectively.

Our probate expertise is just a small part of our extensive Brabners Personal offering, which brings together the very best in personal legal guidance.

Talk to us by giving us a call on 0333 004 4488, sending us an email at privateclient@brabners.com or completing our contact form below.

“Brabners is an outstanding firm. The way in which you manage our family’s affairs gives us genuine confidence and peace of mind — we quite literally sleep easier at night knowing that matters are in your hands.”
Client feedback

“May I take this opportunity to thank you personally for your support to my stepmother while she was alive, for the work you put into her estate and for guiding us through our job as Executors so skilfully. You have really made it a largely effortless process from our point of view.”
Client feedback

“Praised as a ‘fantastic professional group of people, from top to bottom’, the private client team at Brabners remains a popular choice for ultra-high-net-worth individuals for complex estate planning issues, tax planning, Will drafting and probate administration.”
The Legal 500 2026

“Sarah Murphy went way above and beyond the role of 'solicitor' when dealing with my case. Her personal touch, commitment to my relative and the advice and support she provided to me was so much more than just ‘doing her job’. Sarah has been incredibly helpful and just seems to manage problems. Nothing is too big to overcome.”
Client feedback

“Receiving our Dad’s financial legacy marks a truly momentous culmination for our family of nearly 14 months of endeavour to correct Dad's Will and execute his true wishes. We thank you [Sarah Murphy] and your team so very much for your expert guidance and support. Highly professional but always with a personal and friendly approach.”
Client feedback

Watch: What is a Grant of Probate & what happens?

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Expert probate & estate administration solicitors

Our team deals with a wide range of estates on behalf of executors and personal representatives, including those of significant complexity that often involve complex inheritance tax, trust, family and business issues.

We listen carefully to your needs and wishes to provide a specialist and tailored service. Most members of our team are fully STEP-qualified. STEP — the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners — sets and upholds high professional standards and connects practitioners globally to share knowledge and best practice.

Key members of the team include Steven Appleton — a Leading Partner in The Legal 500 2025 for personal tax, trusts and probate — as well as experienced Partners Louise Scholes, Sarah Murphy and Amanda Bailey. Sarah acts as Chair of the Law Society’s Private Client Section Advisory Committee, is a full professional accredited member of Solicitors for the Elderly and a committee member of the regional group Solicitors for the Elderly, serving Lancashire and Cumbria.

Meet the team

Our specialist probate team

Steven Appleton

Partner

Louise Scholes

Partner

A woman with short curly brown hair, glasses, and earrings, wearing a navy blue dress with red detailing, stands with arms crossed in front of a light-colored wall.

Sarah Murphy

Partner

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Executor misconduct When estate administration goes wrong

Your legal duties & responsibilities as an executor

Once named as the executor of a Will, it’s your duty to administer the deceased’s estate — you have a number of responsibilities to this estate and the people who have been left assets in the Will.

Our probate lawyers can help you with any aspect of your estate administration duties, which include:

preparing a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration application
submitting an inheritance tax return and maximising allowances
identifying and collecting in assets
paying any due tax, liabilities and creditors
selling or transferring property in-line with the terms of the Will
preparing estate accounts
managing and registering any trusts in the Will
making sure that beneficiaries receive their entitlements under the terms of the Will.

Experts in all areas of probate & inheritance law

We know that dealing with Wills, inheritance and probate isn’t always straightforward.

If you’re facing any kind of dispute relating to the death of a loved one, their estate or their assets, our expert Will and inheritance disputes team is on-hand to assist.

We specialise in disputes that relate to the validity of Wills, Inheritance Act claims for financial provision, trustee and executor disputes, as well as any issues that arise in the interpretation of Wills or the administration of estates. We also advise in connection with allegations of lifetime financial abuse and disputed gifts and transactions.

Often called on to resolve issues that arise in high value and complex estates — including those with business or international elements — we can recover or protect multi-million-pound estate assets.

Contentious probate services