CILEx Level 6 Unit 21 Probate Practice
CILEx Level 6 Unit 21 Probate Practice - £570
This is a course set at the equivalent to LPC in academic standard and will give you an in-depth knowledge of how to work as a probate practitioner, both in the drafting and execution of wills, and the administration of estates. At the end of the course you will have a very broad and deep understanding of how to implement the law of wills and succession in England and Wales. You should note that, as probate is a reserved activity, you can only advise clients on the administration of estates if you work in a regulated organisation eg a law firm.
Who is the course for?
The course is for legal practitioners who need to have an in-depth knowledge of how to apply the law relating to wills and succession. You might be:
- a Chartered Legal Executive student selecting this subject for your CILEx Level 6 legal practice unit
- a solicitor who has not studied Probate Practice within the LPC
- a law graduate paralegal working in a probate department of a legal firm
We recommend that practitioners who have not already studied the law of Wills and Succession at degree level or at CILEx Level 6 should also study CILEx Level 6 Unit 14 The Law of Wills and Succession which delivers the legal knowledge on which the procedures are based. As an alternative to the Level 6 Probate Practice course you may also wish to consider our CILEx Level 3 Unit 14 Probate Practice course which delivers detailed knowledge of how to administer uncomplicated estates.
What qualification will I get?
Success in the course will lead to the award of an ILEX Level 6 Single Subject Certificate in Probate Practice which is a standalone qualification but can also contribute to the CILEx Level 6 Professional Higher Diploma in Law and Practice or the CILEx Graduate Fast-track Diploma.
What will I learn?
The course delivers the CILEx syllabus for this unit. Please click on the link to see the syllabus content expressed in terms of broad learning outcomes as well as the detailed knowledge, understanding and skills that are delivered by the course. ITC publishes a course manual every year to deliver the CILEx syllabus and the table of contents (2011 edition) is reproduced below.
PART 1: THE MAKING OF WILLS
Chapter 1: Preliminary Considerations
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Reasons for making a will
1.3 What can be given away by will?
1.3.1 Property belonging to the deceased but not passing to his personal representatives
1.3.2 Pensions and trust or assigned policies
1.4 Intestacy
1.5 Post-death challenges and variations
1.6 The importance of taking full instructions
1.7 Foreign assets: foreign wills
Chapter 2: Ensuring the Validity of a Will
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Capacity of the testator
2.2.1 Physical capacity
2.2.2 Mental capacity
2.2.3 Burden of proving lack of capacity
2.2.4 Practical issues for the solicitor preparing the will
2.3 Intention of the testator
2.4 s9 formalities
2.5 Codicils
2.6 Wills made outside England and Wales
Chapter 3: Revocation and Alterations to Wills
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Revocation
3.2.1 Revocation by marriage/civil partnership
3.2.2 Formation of a civil partnership
3.2.3 Effect of testator’s divorce or nullity
3.2.4 Dissolution or annulment of a civil partnership
3.2.5 Revocation by a later will or codicil
3.2.6 Revocation by destruction
3.2.7 Dependent relative (or conditional) revocation
3.3 Lost and destroyed wills
3.4 Alterations and obliterations
3.4.1 Are alterations and obliterations valid?
3.4.2 The consequences of alterations and obliterations being invalid
Chapter 4: Republication, Revival and Incorporation
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Republication of a will
4.3 Revival of a will
4.4 Codicils – some practical points
4.5 Incorporation of an unexecuted document by reference
PART 2: INTESTACY
Chapter 5: Total and Partial Intestacy
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Intestacy rules – basics
5.2.1 The statutory trust for sale
5.2.2 Entitlement
5.3 If there is a surviving spouse/civil partner
5.3.1 Spouse/civil partner alone
5.3.2 Spouse/civil partner and issue
5.3.3 Spouse/civil partner, no issue but parent(s) or brothers/sisters of the whole blood (or their issue)
5.3.4 Special rules applying to spouses/civil partners
5.4 No surviving spouse/civil partner but there are surviving issue
5.5 If there is no surviving spouse/civil partner and no issue – entitlement of other relatives
5.6 Crown, Duchy of Lancaster or Duke of Cornwall
5.7 Distribution on partial intestacy
5.8 Proposals for reform
PART 3: TAXATION
Chapter 6: Inheritance Tax
6.1 Introduction
6.2 IHT – some basic concepts
6.2.1 When is IHT charged?
6.2.2 Is there always a charge?
6.2.3 If there is a charge, how is the tax worked out?
6.2.4 IHT estate and its relevance to the IHT charge on death
6.3 Lifetime transfers of value
6.3.1 Use of lifetime exemptions and reliefs
6.3.2 Potentially exempt transfer
6.3.3 Chargeable transfers
6.3.4 Gifts with reservation of benefit
6.4 Principles of valuation
6.4.1 General valuation rule
6.4.2 Special valuation rules
6.5 Exemptions and reliefs
6.5.1 Lifetime transfers only
6.5.2 Lifetime and death transfers
6.5.3 Transfers on death only
6.6 Calculation of IHT following death
6.6.1 A basic death calculation
6.6.2 Cumulation and failed PETs
6.6.3 Cumulation and chargeable transfers
6.6.4 Taper relief – chargeable transfers (including failed PETs)
6.6.5 More illustrations of IHT calculations
6.6.6 Transferable nil rate band between spouses/civil partners
6.7 Who is liable to pay the IHT?
6.7.1 Lifetime chargeable transfer (IHT due at the time it is made)
6.7.2 Additional tax on chargeable transfer and tax on failed PET – if death within seven years
6.7.3 Transfer of the estate on death
6.7.4 Are purchasers of property liable?
6.8 Who bears the burden of the tax?
6.8.1 General rules
6.8.2 Special rules for partially exempt transfers
6.9 Accounts and payment of IHT
6.9.1 Delivery of accounts
6.9.2 Due date for payment
6.9.3 Instalment option
6.10 Apportioning the IHT bill – the estate rate
Chapter 7: Capital Gains Tax
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Capital gains tax – the basics
7.3 What is a chargeable gain?
7.4 Rates of tax
7.5 Allowable losses
7.6 Exemptions
7.7 Reliefs
7.7.1 Holdover relief
7.7.2 Relief on disposal of a business (entrepreneur’s relief)
7.8 Deferments
7.8.1 Disposals between spouses/civil partners
7.8.2 Gifts to charities
7.8.3 Holdover relief
7.8.4 Replacement of business assets
7.8.5 Transfer of a business to a company
7.8.6 Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) relief
7.9 PRs and capital gains of the deceased
7.10 PRs and capital gains of the estate
7.10.1 Disposals by PRs in the course of administration
7.10.2 Transfers by PRs to legatees
7.11 Capital gains and beneficiaries
Chapter 8: Income Tax
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Income tax – the basics
8.2.1 Calculating liability
8.2.2 Rates of tax
8.2.3 Spouses and civil partners
8.2.4 Date for payment of tax
8.3 PRs and the deceased’s income
8.4 PRs and income of the administration period
8.5 Income tax position of beneficiaries
Chapter 9: Trusts and Settlements
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Income tax
9.2.1 Liability of trustees
9.2.2 Liability of beneficiaries – with a right to trust income
9.2.3 Liability of beneficiaries – with no right to trust income
9.3 Capital gains tax
9.3.1 Creation of a settlement
9.3.2 Liability of trustees
9.3.2.1 Actual disposals
9.3.2.2 Deemed disposals
9.3.3 Liability of beneficiaries
9.4 Inheritance tax
9.4.1 Relevance to probate practice
9.4.2 Types of trust and settlement
9.4.2.1 Interest in possession trust set up before 22 March 2006
9.4.2.2 Transitional serial interests
9.4.2.3 Accumulation and maintenance settlements
9.4.2.4 Immediate post-death interests (IPDIs)
9.4.2.5 Bereaved minor’s trust (BMTs)
9.4.2.6 Bereaved young person’s trust (BYPT)
9.4.2.7 Trust for a disabled person
9.4.2.8 Relevant property trust
PART 4: CONTENTS OF WILLS
Chapter 10: Planning and Drafting a Will
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Planning the structure and content of a will
10.2.1 Introduction and revocation
10.2.2 Appointment of executors and trustees
10.2.2.1 Choosing executors and trustees
10.2.2.2 Charging clauses and payment
10.2.3 Guardians
10.2.4 General points on drafting gifts
10.2.5 Residuary gift
10.2.6 Administrative powers
10.2.7 Date and attestation clauses
10.3 Typical dispositions in family wills
10.3.1 Testator married or in a civil partnership with children
10.3.2 Gifts to children
10.4 IHT and will drafting
10.4.1 Use of exemptions and reliefs that apply on death
10.4.2 Setting up a trust
10.4.2.1 Immediate post-death interest (IPDI)
10.4.2.2 Trusts for bereaved minors
10.4.2.3 Trusts for bereaved young people
10.4.2.4 Discretionary trusts
10.4.3 Spouse/civil partner – sensible use of the nil rate band
10.4.4 Use of survivorship clauses
10.4.5 “Free of tax” and “subject to tax” provisions
Chapter 11: Construction of Wills
11.1 Introduction
11.2 General principles of construction
11.3 Using extrinsic evidence
11.4 From which date does a will speak?
11.5 Omitting, changing and supplying words
11.6 Class gifts and the class closing rules
11.6.1 Immediate vested gift
11.6.2 Deferred vested gift
11.6.3 Contingent class gift
11.6.4 Early closing
11.6.5 Individual gifts to members of a class
11.7 Gifts to children and other relatives by description
11.8 Legacies and devises
11.8.1 Specific legacy/devise
11.8.2 General legacy
11.8.3 Demonstrative legacy
11.8.4 Pecuniary legacy
11.8.5 Residuary legacy/devise
11.9 Reasons why gifts might fail
11.9.1 Ademption
11.9.2 Lapse
11.9.2.1 Commorientes
11.9.2.2 s33 Wills Act 1837
11.9.3 Uncertainty
11.9.4 s15 Wills Act 1837 (as amended by s1 Wills Act 1968)
11.9.5 Gift for illegal or immoral purpose or contrary to public policy
11.9.6 Disclaimer
PART 5: RISK MANAGEMENT
Chapter 12: The Solicitor’s Duty of Care
12.1 Introduction
12.2 The nature of the solicitor’s duty
12.2.1 The duty to the intended beneficiary
12.2.2 Primary duty to the client
12.3 Taking instructions
12.4 Advising on the content of a will
12.5 Duty of care and arrangements for execution
12.5.1 Precautions when sending a will for execution
12.5.2 Precautions in special cases
12.6 Keeping wills under review
12.7 Advice on tax and estate planning generally
12.8 Duties to PRs in the administration
PART 6: OBTAINING THE GRANT
Chapter 13: Initial Instructions to the Solicitor
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Initial steps on receipt of instructions
13.2.1 Who is the solicitor’s client?
13.2.2 Finding out about family and dependants
13.2.3 Finding out about the assets and liabilities
13.2.4 Advising on entitlement
13.2.5 Interim finance for spouses and other dependants
13.2.6 Other matters to consider
13.2.7 Thinking ahead
13.3 Outline procedure to apply for a grant
13.4 Situations where no grant needed
13.5 Position of PRs before obtaining grant
13.5.1 Executors
13.5.2 Administrators (with or without will annexed)
13.6 Searching for a missing will
Chapter 14: Grants and Personal Representatives
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Grants – the background
14.3 Types of grant
14.3.1 Probate
14.3.2 Letters of administration with will annexed
14.3.3 Letters of administration
14.3.4 Limited and special grants
14.3.4.1 Limited as to purpose
14.3.4.2 Limited as to property
14.3.4.3 Limited as to time
14.3.4.4 Other special grants
14.4 Capacity to be a PR
14.5 Several claimants
14.6 Number of PRs required
14.6.1 The maximum
14.6.2 The minimum
14.7 Renunciation by PRs
14.8 Amendment and revocation of grants
14.8.1 Amendment
14.8.2 Revocation
Chapter 15: H M Revenue & Customs Accounts
15.1 Introduction
15.2 IHT400 – its delivery and payment of tax
15.2.1 Pre-delivery detective work
15.2.2 Time for delivery and payment
15.2.3 Assessment of IHT by the PRs
15.2.4 How PRs pay IHT
15.3 Excepted estates and IHT205
15.3.1 Deceased domiciled in the UK having a gross estate not exceeding the IHT threshold – “low value excepted estate”
15.3.2 Deceased domiciled in the UK having a gross estate not exceeding £1,000,000 and a chargeable estate not exceeding the IHT threshold – “exempt excepted estate”
15.3.3 IHT threshold for low value or exempt excepted estates
15.3.4 Examples
15.3.5 Deceased never domiciled in the UK
15.4 Completing Form IHT205
15.5 Completing Form IHT400
15.5.1 IHT400 – the main Form
15.5.2 IHT400 – the Schedules
15.6 Other HMRC Forms
Chapter 16: Applying for the Grant – Oaths for Executors and Administrators
16.1 Introduction
16.2 General requirements
16.3 The importance of the oath
16.4 Oath for executors
16.5 Oath for administrators with will annexed
16.6 Oath for administrators
16.7 Oath for administrators de bonis non administratis
Chapter 17: Affidavits Supporting Probate Applications
17.1 Introduction
17.2 Affidavit of due execution
17.3 Date
17.4 Alterations
17.5 Plight and condition
17.6 Proving a will that has been lost or accidentally destroyed
Chapter 18: Caveats, Citations and Standing Searches
18.1 Introduction
18.2 Caveats
18.3 Citations
18.4 Standing searches
PART 7: CHANGES AFTER DEATH
Chapter 19: Family Provision Claims
19.1 Introduction
19.2 Making the claim
19.3 Categories of applicant
19.4 Should reasonable financial provision be made?
19.5 Court orders
Chapter 20: Disclaimers and Variations
20.1 Introduction
20.2 What is a disclaimer?
20.3 What is a variation?
20.4 Tax consequences of disclaimers and variations
20.4.1 IHT
20.4.2 CGT
20.4.3 Income tax
20.4.4 Stamp duty
20.5 The opportunities for using variations
20.6 Disclaimers and variations as tax planning tools
20.7 Other changes
PART 8: ADMINISTRATION OF THE ESTATE
Chapter 21: Duties and Powers of the Personal Representatives
21.1 Introduction
21.2 PRs’ duties
21.3 Administration of Estates Act 1925 powers
21.4 Trustee Act 1925 powers
21.5 Trustee Act 2000 powers
21.6 Deceased’s business
21.7 Powers in will
21.8 Exercise of powers
21.9 Position of beneficiaries
21.9.1 Entitlement to income/interest
21.10 Remedies
21.10.1 General administration actions
21.10.2 Personal action against PRs
21.10.3 Tracing
21.10.4 Personal action against recipients
Chapter 22: Practical Considerations in the Administration
22.1 Introduction
22.2 Raising funds to pay IHT
22.3 Sales of assets
22.4 Protecting PRs against creditors and other claimants – s27 Trustee Act 1925
22.5 Protection against claims from missing beneficiaries
22.6 Protection from liability under leaseholds
22.7 Protection through applications to the court
22.8 Payment of debts (solvent estate)
22.8.1 Secured creditors
22.8.2 Statutory order – unsecured creditors
22.8.3 Variation of the statutory order
22.9 Payment of debts (insolvent estate)
22.9.1 Secured creditors
22.9.2 Unsecured creditors
22.9.2.1 Funeral, testamentary and administration expenses
22.9.2.2 The statutory bankruptcy order
22.10 Payment and incidence of pecuniary legacies
Chapter 23: Completion of the Administration
23.1 Introduction
23.2 Assents to beneficiaries and sales
23.2.1 Assents of land
23.2.2 Sales of land by PRs
23.3 Methods of transferring other assets
23.3.1 Stocks and shares
23.3.2 Bank accounts
23.3.3 Chattels
23.3.4 Cash legacies
23.4 Payment of legacies
23.5 Ascertaining the residue
23.6 Estate accounts
Application
Download:
CILEx courses application form 2011-12.pdf
Apply on-line through the course shop.