Obtaining Grant of Probate can be expensive. Not only is the lawyer’s fees for obtaining the Grant not insubstantial, there is also the application fee payable to the Supreme Court and the time taken to prepare the affidavit, file the notices and obtain the orders can be quite a while.

However obtaining a Grant is not always necessary. You might be able to administrator an estate without obtaining a Grant. But as always in the law, even if it’s possible it might still be wise to obtain the Grant.

When might it be avoided?

If the deceased is the husband/wife of a surviving spouse then it’s possible, if all assets are in joint names, obtaining a Grant is not necessary. The “rule of survivorship” applies, which means that the surviving joint tenant of the assets takes full title of those assets without any need for an order of the Supreme Court.