Ewart Price is a dependable and approachable expert legal team based in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Having provided legal services since 1983, Ewart Price’s team pride themselves on a personal, friendly, and professional approach to all matters, aiming to build long-lasting relationships with clients.
Ewart Price also takes advantage of the most modern technology without losing personal contact with clients.
‘A one-stop shop’
Tom Bottomley, Solicitor Ewart Price explains: “I have known and trusted Nick Wild who works for Estatesearch for many years and when we were looking for a ‘one-stop shop’ for financial asset searches in probate cases to ensure peace of mind for our clients, Estatesearch offered the answer. This sort of service is available in the conveyancing space, but it’s taken a while for tech to catch up, to assist in probate matters.
“Previously, to identify the assets in a deceased’s estate, we had to look at one website then another, write to multiple banks and use our own contacts. This was incredibly time-consuming and obviously incurred a cost on behalf of our clients. However, for the past two years, we have used Estatesearch’s Financial Profile search ordered through their secure portal. We simply log in, choose which search we need then wait for the results to be returned.
A quick and straightforward process
“Not only is it a quick and straightforward process to order asset and liability searches through the portal, returned reports are very clear and readable and we have come to rely on Estatesearch. Often we use the Financial Profile search to review and match to what we already know or to highlight areas that need further attention. However, occasionally, we have discovered assets that beneficiaries were previously unaware of.
“One high-value estate included various investments and shareholdings and our client was confident they already had all of the information regarding the deceased’s assets. Nevertheless, we advised our client to run Estatesearch’s Financial Profile as standard due diligence and for her own piece of mind. To our client’s surprise, a significant investment was uncovered by the search of around £38K, which had ramifications for the inheritance tax position. Our client is now reassured that no other assets will come out of the woodwork and no stone has been left unturned.
“Often spouses are well aware of assets within an estate, so we find the Financial Profile search most helpful when more distant relatives are involved. We are currently working on behalf of a niece and nephew in a probate case for example, and there is no way of them knowing or being able to identify assets, so the Financial Profile search is invaluable. It also makes the process slightly less stressful for the family at a difficult time too.
“Our team originally were trained how to use the Estatesearch portal, but it is so simple and easy to use there have never been any issues. We found Estatesearch’s Financial Profile far more thorough than other similar products we have used in the past and now recommend it to all our clients.
A best practice approach to due diligence in probate matters
“In reality, searches are ordered dependent on what file requires, on a case-by-case basis. Because reports are returned within 30 days at a very reasonable cost, we find that more often than not, clients instruct us to use Estatesearch for their own peace of mind. Estatsearch reassures us as a firm that we have adopted a best practice approach and completed due diligence on behalf of our clients.”
To find out more about the Estatesearch Financial Profile Service and it can support your own due diligence in probate matters check out our Services page.
Originally published in Today’s Wills and Probate, 29th June 2023.