PROBATE AND ADMINISTRATION

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Probate and Administration

Kinley Legal is particularly experienced in obtaining grants of probate and letters of administration for international and clients.

Manx probate

A grant of probate or letters of administration issued by the Isle of Man courts (often called “Manx probate”) is usually required to administer the Isle of Man estate of a person who has died. The grant is a legal authorisation issued to confirm the appointment of an executor or administrator, such that they can deal with the Isle of Man property of the deceased person.

Where the person left a will appointing one or more executors covering the property in the Isle of Man, the grant issued by the court is known as a “grant of probate” issued to the executor or executors. Where the person did not make a will, the grant is instead called “letters of administration” and appoints one or more administrators to act as the personal representative of the deceased.

The persons entitled to administer the estate are usually either executors nominated in the will, family members entitled to benefit from the estate, or attorneys nominated by those people.

Isle of Man-based banks, insurance companies and financial institutions are very unlikely to pay or transfer the deceased person’s property to their heirs without a grant of probate of letters of administration. Grants issued by courts in other jurisdictions, even England, are also unlikely to be acceptable to such institutions to allow the transfer of assets. Isle of Man financial institutions do not tend to offer indemnity schemes or other alternatives to obtaining Manx probate.

Types of application we can assist with

We have experience with all types of application, including:

• applications by overseas executors for Manx probate to enable them to close down accounts with an Isle of Man bank;
• applications to allow an Isle of Man international life insurance policy to pay out to the estate of a person who has died;
• assistance with applications for the estates of people who have died domiciled in the Isle of Man and the provision of documents for overseas probate applications;
• administration applications by the heirs of a person who has died without making a will (intestacy) or without validly nominating an executor in the will;
• applications where an advocate, solicitor or other professional adviser takes responsibility for administering the Isle of Man estate on behalf of their client; and
• de bonis non applications where a personal representative has died without completing the administration of the deceased’s estate.

As an internationally-aware firm, we have particular experience in working with the estates of people who died domiciled in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Commonwealth countries and beyond.

Please contact us for further details of the requirements, and to find out how Kinley Legal can assist with resolving the Isle of Man estate of your family member or client.