Losing someone you love is one of the hardest things any of us will face. In the middle of grief, there are also practical matters to attend to, and it can be difficult to know where to begin. This article sets out the first steps to take when someone dies in Scotland, and explains what happens next as their estate is settled.

Who should you call first?

In the first hours after a death, your priority is to have it formally confirmed by a medical professional. What that involves depends on the circumstances.

• If your loved one died at home and the death was expected, contact their GP, or the out-of-hours service if it is outside surgery hours. A doctor will issue the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, which you need in order to register the death. 
• If the death was sudden or unexpected, telephone 999 and the emergency services will advise you. In some cases the Procurator Fiscal becomes involved, which is a routine part of the process and not a cause for concern. 
• If the death happened in hospital or a care home, the staff there will guide you through the immediate steps.

Registering the death

In Scotland, a death must be registered within eight days. You can do this at any registrar's office, regardless of where the death occurred. The registrar will issue the documents you need, including the death certificate. It is worth asking for several extracts of the entry at the same time, as banks and other organisations will each want to see one.

Check for funeral wishes before you arrange anything

Once the death has been confirmed, you can begin to think about the funeral. There is no need to rush, and it is well worth checking if the deceased left any specific instructions before you make any arrangements.

While not strictly binding, funeral wishes may appear in the Will, in a separate letter of wishes, or in a pre-paid funeral plan, which may also name a particular funeral director. A short call to the solicitor who holds the Will at this stage means they can check it on your behalf, so that the arrangements you make reflect what your loved one actually wanted. This is one occasion where contacting the solicitor sooner rather than later can save real difficulty.

Once you are ready, a funeral director will take much of the practical weight off your shoulders when it comes to arranging the funeral itself.

Contacting Your Solicitor

As stated before, it is worth involving a solicitor early if there is any question of funeral wishes being recorded in the Will. Beyond that, a solicitor's main role begins once you turn to the estate itself, meaning everything the person owned and owed.

The solicitor will need to see a copy of the death certificate before they can act, and they will only be able to speak to the executor(s) named in the deceased’s Will. If someone dies intestate (without a Will), then the executor will be appointed by the court.

Acting as an executor carries real legal responsibility, and our Executry team is here to take you through it step by step.

Applying for Confirmation

Before an executor can deal with the deceased's money or property, they usually need a legal document called 'Confirmation'. In England this is known as probate, but in Scotland the document and the procedure are different. Confirmation is granted by the Sheriff Court and gives the executor the authority to gather in the estate.

To obtain it, the executor must first prepare an inventory listing everything the deceased owned at the date of death, from bank accounts and shares to their home and personal possessions, each valued accurately. Getting these figures right matters, because they form the basis of any tax that is due.

Ingathering the estate

Once Confirmation is granted, the executor can begin ingathering the estate. This means closing bank accounts, cashing in investments, collecting any money owed to the deceased and dealing with their property. Banks and other institutions will release funds only once they have seen the Confirmation, which is why obtaining it is such an important step.

The executor must also settle the deceased's debts, including any mortgage, loans, household bills and the funeral account. Part of the executor's duty is to take reasonable steps to identify everyone the estate owes.

Paying any Inheritance Tax

Inheritance Tax is a tax on the estate of someone who has died, and it applies across the UK. Many estates pay none at all. Each person has a nil-rate band of £325,000, below which no tax is charged, and a further residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000 where a home passes to children or grandchildren. Unused allowances can usually pass between spouses and civil partners. Where tax is due, the standard rate is 40 per cent on the value above the available allowances.

Inheritance Tax is generally payable within six months of the end of the month in which the person died, and some of it may need to be settled before Confirmation is granted, so early advice is valuable. We will tell you whether tax is due and, where the estate includes property, explain the option to pay the tax on it by instalments.

Selling executry property

Many estates include a house or flat that needs to be sold. However, it may be worthwhile using a solicitor-estate agent to manage the process. Because Paris Steele is both a law firm and an estate agency, we can handle the whole process of administering the estate, valuing and marketing the property, and managing the conveyancing. This keeps everything coordinated, avoids duplication, and spares the family the task of pulling separate professionals together at a painful time. 

Distributing the estate to beneficiaries

Once debts and any tax have been paid, the remainder of the estate can be shared among the beneficiaries. 

• If there is a Will, the estate is distributed according to its terms, subject to the Legal Rights that a surviving spouse, civil partner and children can claim regardless of what the Will says. 
• If there is no Will, the estate passes under the Rules of Intestacy, beginning with Prior Rights for a surviving spouse or civil partner.

Executors conventionally wait until at least six months have passed since the date of death before distributing the estate. This is not a fixed statutory deadline, but it allows time for any creditors to come forward. An executor who pays everything out too soon can be left personally liable if a debt later emerges, so this period of caution protects the executor as well as the estate.

How Paris Steele Can Help

Administering an estate can feel daunting, but you do not have to do it alone. Our Private Client and Residential Property teams work together to guide executors through Confirmation, the ingathering and settlement of the estate, any Inheritance Tax, the sale of property and the final distribution to beneficiaries, all handled locally and with care.

To arrange a free initial consultation, contact our North Berwick office on 01620 892138 or our Dunbar office on 01368 862746, or get in touch with us online.