I suspect I may have been given incorrect guidance by the Probate Registry and would be grateful if anyone can offer their expertise please.
My scenario:
Original deceased (Mrs B) died in January 2022. Her surviving spouse and appointed executor, Mr B lacked capacity, and a grant of Letters of Administration (with Will) was granted to his attorneys, G and S, for his use and benefit. The delays at the Probate Registry were such that by the time that grant issued in October 2023, Mr B had also died a few days earlier, so it was immediately defunct. G and S are the executors for Mr B (and have a grant of Probate in his estate), so now need to apply for a grant de bonis non in Mrs B’s estate.
Having raised a query via the Probate webchat service over how to deal with qu 1.2 on the PA1P (as G and S are not named as executors of Mrs B’s Will, so the PA1P cannot match how they are referred to in the Will), the webchat adviser indicated that the applicant on the PA1P should be Mr B, that he should not be named an executor who is not applying, and that the ony place G and S’s details should appear is in box 2.16.
Given Mr B is deceased (the whole reason for the application in the first palce) this sounds like complete nonsense, but if this is indeed the correct current practice, I will be grateful for confirmation. If it is not correct, any guidance on the correct procedure would be gratefully received.
Thank you,
Alison Elwess
Adie Pepperdine Ltd