Estate Management is the process of dealing with someone’s estate once they have died. Usually the executor of the estate needs to administer the estate in accordance with the will & the law, so that the deceased persons assets are distributed to the prescribed beneficiaries.

There are two main parts to the administration of an estate:

1. Applying for Probate
2. Distributing the estate (ie calling in all assets, paying any liabilities, then paying out to the beneficiaries.

The executor needs to obtain a copy of the will or if there is no will (ie the deceased is “intestate”). Then “Letters of Administration” need to be obtained & the estate will be distributed according to a formula.

The administration of the estate is purely an administrative process, although applying for probate is done through the supreme court, & is in fact a court case.

Many executors, who don’t feel comfortable in attending to the procedural issues themselves and  engage a solicitor or a trustee company to assist in the administration process. However, the charges for this type of assistance are usually based on a scale of fees based on the value of an estate.

Naturally the more assets that are in the estate also costs more, as there is more work in writing to the holders of the assets to have them released, & also more working in providing the requirements to those holders. But it seems harsh to charge more simply because the estate is worth more.