I have a client who has died, I drafted his Will in England, his only assets are a nationwide account and NS&I savings and investments as he sold his house to move in to care.
He has just died in a care home which was located in Scotland.
Can I apply for a UK grant or do the family need to apply for a Scottish grant as he lived in Scotland at the date of his death
Thank you for your help
Rachel Stafford
Rachel Stafford Legal Services
My instinct is English grant will be fine for NS&I and Nationwide, because domicile is likely unchanged from England & Wales - to be certain call Nationwide and NS&I to confirm their respective requirements.
Sorry Rachel, but there is not a “UK Grant”.
I think you should be considering whether the deceased became domiciled in Scotland before he died, or remained domiciled in {presumably} England & Wales.
In either case you should be able to prove the will you prepared, and use the grant of probate [E&W] or confirmation [Scotland] to collect the assets.
However, if you decide that he had become domiciled in Scotland it is possible that Scottish law [eg forced heirship] may affect the proper distribution of the estate.
I appreciate that domicile can be a complicated issue, but it should be considered every time you draft a will, as well as every time you apply for a grant [I think the current box to tick is 2.8].
I don’t believe his domicile has changed as he had lost capacity and he was moved to a care home in Scotland to be closer to his eldest daughter and because the cost of care was cheaper.
So continue with normal application to prove the Will in England & Wales, unless you have some other reason to believe that the family have [or suspect that they have] an alternative claim.
Should the estate be such that it may be possible to administer without a grant I might agree with John, although the reference to house sale proceeds suggests this could be unlikely. If a grant is obtained in either situs there would be no reason for Nationwide and/or NS&I to question this.
Thank you everyone for taking the time to assist, and Happy Christmas