A Truro firm of chartered accountants and chartered tax advisers is one of only a handful of chartered accountants in England and Wales who have been licensed to undertake probate work.
Robinson Reed Layton partner, Nick Skerratt, is one of the first accountants in the country to be licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales’ (ICAEW) to deal with probate and estate administration.
Previously, obtaining probate on clients’ wills was classed as a “reserved legal activity” and as such could only be carried out by an “authorised (legally qualified) person”.
Skerratt explained: “For some time now we have been helping clients with estates when family members die, but we have not been able to deal specifically with the application for a Grant of Probate as, like the drafting of deeds, the legislation makes it a criminal offence for someone who is not an “authorised person” to undertake such “reserved legal activities”.
“The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales is now an approved regulator and licensing authority for probate work, making it possible for chartered accountants to apply to be “authorised” for the purposes of probate work.
“I was one of those asked by the ICAEW to take part in the first tranche of applications and we are one of the first firms in England and Wales to be licensed.
“Here at Robinson Reed Layton we are always looking for ways to improve the services we can offer to clients, so it was a logical step to apply to become regulated to do probate work.”
