Probate guides

What is a probate loan?

A probate loan is a special form of loan that is designed to help both the beneficiaries and the executors of the estate of somebody who has died.

Probate loans for beneficiaries – the Inheritance Advance

For beneficiaries who are due to inherit money but would prefer not to wait for the inheritance to be paid out, an Inheritance Advance could be the answer. The Inheritance Advance allows you to access up to 50% of the inheritance that you are due, tax-free.

There is no need to make regular repayments as there is with most loans. This is because the loan is repaid out of the proceeds of the estate directly once the funds are ready to be distributed.

Interest is charged on the amount advanced, so by taking some of your inheritance early, you will end up receiving less in total.

Probate loans for executors or personal representatives – the Estate Advance

Executors or personal representatives who are tasked with managing the estate of somebody who has died can often be faced with a wide range of costs that need to be covered. These can range from paying for a funeral to covering Inheritance Tax, property maintenance cost and legal bills.

In some instances, the estate will contain sufficient cash with which to cover these costs. But that is not always the case, and executors can find themselves having to find other ways of footing the bill. This is where our Estate Advance comes in.

The Estate Advance is a form of probate loan that allows the executor or personal representative who is managing the estate to borrow money to cover what are known as ‘testamentary expenses’: the costs incurred in the orderly management of the estate.

You can read more about the costs of probate here.

The Estate Advance is a special kind of loan as it does not require the executor or personal representatives to pay it back themselves. Instead, the amount that has been advanced, plus interest, is repaid directly from the proceeds of the estate once sufficient estate assets have been sold.