Clients died overseas, no death certificate available

Dear All

I hope you are all keeping well and staying safe.

I have been instructed in the administration of the estates of H&W. H died in around 2015 in Iran. W died in 2019 in Iran. H&W had a property in London, held as tenants in common. They each passed their share of the flat to their son S.

Nobody dealt with H’s estate when he died. We have a picture of his grave, and a newspaper article about his death. We do not have, and cannot seem to get hold of a death certificate for him. We have a scanned copy of W’s death certificate, but no original.

We think we need to get a grant for both Wills (of which we only have a copy as the original has been lost - though it is not believed to have been destroyed) to submit the same to the Land Registry to pass their respective shares of the property to S. I am a bit stumped though. I cannot apply for leave to swear death as insufficient time has elapsed, but I have no official paperwork to confirm they are dead? The new PA1P requires a death certificate to be supplied. I don’t think I will have time to get S to complete the papers using a statement of truth, as he’s a medic and a bit busy at the moment concentrating on other things.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Fiona Dodd
Mayo Wynne Baxter

Have you tried approaching one of the various genealogy companies who offer probate support services, as they should be able to help find foreign death certificates for a fee? I’d be a little wary of proceeding without having seen original death certificates regardless of the Probate Registry’s requirements.

Ben Leach
Molesworths Bright Clegg

By way of a postscript, I’ve just noticed that the requirement of original death certificate in the new PA1P doesn’t apply to legal professionals, but I think the same note of caution applies.

Ben Leach
Molesworths Bright Clegg

Thank you

Fiona Dodd
Mayo Wynne Baxter

1 Like