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If a beneficiary resides outside of England and Wales, The Law Society recommends checking their bankruptcy status before distributing any money to them. If a beneficiary is bankrupt, the inheritance must be disclosed and used to pay off outstanding debts before being passed to the beneficiary.
Personal Representatives can be held personally liable if they were to pay out an inheritance to a bankrupt instead of their Trustee. Of course, we would hope that honesty would prevail, and a beneficiary would state of their own accord if they are bankrupt. However, how can you be sure without an independent check being made?
By conducting a bankruptcy search, you can avoid distribution to insolvent beneficiaries and ensure that any risk to Personal Representatives is eliminated.
We offer fixed fee global bankruptcy searches for just £49, plus VAT and disbursements. This service protects Personal Representatives from later disputes and will ensure that any debt settlements take a higher priority when the estate funds are distributed.
Bankruptcy searches vary between jurisdictions; some authorities offer free access to bankruptcy records (for example, New Zealand and Scotland), however, most jurisdictions require a specific court application to be made with certain information (this sometimes includes a release form signed by the beneficiary).
It’s important to undertake this work as close to the point of distribution as possible as many overseas bankruptcy searches are only valid on the day the search was carried out.
We recently completed two bankruptcy searches for beneficiaries residing in the Netherlands. Within five working days and for a fixed price, we were able to report to our client that neither beneficiary was bankrupt and that they could pay the legacies without any risk to the Personal Representatives. Our client said, “Thank you very much for a very prompt and efficient service”.
To assist you with paying overseas heirs their entitlement, we have partnered with specialist currency provider, TorFX, to save you time and money. They offer excellent exchange rates and fee-free currency transfers. To obtain a free quotation and set up an account please visit the currency transfer page on our website.
These other asset repatriation services may help you if you’re dealing with overseas assets or need to make an international currency transfer.
When you’re repatriating assets, we can save you time and money with excellent exchange rates and fee-free currency transfers.
If you need to deal with overseas shares or funds, we can help you navigate each country’s rules, forms and processes.
Our useful resources have been created to provide you with more information on overcoming challenges in estate administration.
In this webinar, Title Research’s experienced Technical Manager, Simon Barber, looks at the various challenges and risks that arise when dealing with an estate.
Read about how to best advise your clients when outsourcing specialist aspects of estate administration to a third-party.
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