winding up of a person's estate

[2Margaret]

Can a person's estate be completed and passed to the probate office if there is an outstanding inquest to determine that person's cause of death? Often inquests are several months after the incident so do matters have to be held in abeyance?

[ubasses]

until you are issued with a death certificate you cannot register the death so are unable to proceed, and this is often held up until the coroner is satisfied with cause of death. If the inquest is routine, ie sudden but natural death the certificate can be issued at the first hearing.

[Barmaid]

The coroner will often issue an interim death certificate to enable probate to be applied for. Indeed, you don't actually need to submit a death certificate to apply for probate.

As a point of practice, the estate is not completed and passed to the probate office. What happens is that the personal representatives complete an oath for probate or letters of administration detailing how they are entitled to the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration together with an IHT form. Once the grant has issued the personal representatives can deal with the estate.

[2Margaret]

Thank you both for your answers.