The reseal of a Grant in Jersey once the documents are in order is a relatively quick process provided the deceased died domiciled in the British Isles. If the deceased was not so domiciled, then a different procedure is used.

What we will need initially is:

An Oath is prepared by the Jersey lawyers and must be sworn by the Executor(s) of the Estate in the presence of a specific witness (usually a Solicitor) and this Oath together with the aforementioned documents will then be sent to the Probate Registrar in Jersey.

The Jersey Probate Registrar will then produce a Greffier’s Certificate which is attached to the UK Grant and Will and which provides the Executor(s) with the requisite authority to obtain the release of the funds or transfer of shares held by the Jersey asset holder (usually the Company’s Jersey Registrars, which is usually Computershare).

           If you need our help, then once we have an idea of what will be involved, we will give you a fixed quote for the cost of doing the work. We operate on a fixed fee basis, although if extra unanticipated work is involved, we may ask for a review. The disbursements are likely to be minor miscellaneous charges – such as £50 to cover postages including overseas postages; the printing costs of £35; the costs of the sealed and certified copy of the Grant – HMCTS for £10; Notarial fees and the cost of the Apostille also have to be taken into account, but these will be paid by the Executors direct to the Notary.

The Jersey lawyer’s fees are usually in the range £500 – £1,000 with additional costs if they are involved in the collection and distribution of the Jersey assets. We try and avoid this, if possible.

If the shares are to be sold, then brokers fees will also be payable, and again we can handle this aspect if you wish us to do so. We will be happy to send you particulars of our brokers and the forms for completion so that the necessary brokerage account can be opened with them.

if you want to sell the shares there is a two-stage process:

(i)         We will open an account in the name of the Executors (or in the name of our Instructing Firm – be they solicitors / accountants / regulated firms such as Financial Advisers) with our brokers; and

(ii)         We will then open a sub-account to the Executor’s account / our Instructing Firm’s account, in the name of the deceased.

Once these two accounts have been opened, and when the sale of the shares has been completed, our brokers will account directly to the Executors / or to our Instructing Firm) for the net proceeds of sale (we are not authorised to hold client’s monies). Our brokers will need our Instructing Firm to complete a “Terms of Business” Form, which will need to be signed; and also a Nominee Account Form to be signed by the Executors. We will prepare these forms for you. These Forms need to be returned to ourselves for further processing.

At the same time can you please send us a copy of the passport of each Executor; and also a utility bill dated within the last three (3) months for each Executor showing each Executor’s home address. We will need the same documents for the signatory of our Instructing Firm who signs the Terms of business Form. As you will understand, this is to satisfy red tape Anti-Money Laundering Regulatory requirements.

You may care to note that once our Instructing Firm’s account has been opened with our brokers, then in the future the Executors will only be required to sign a Nominee Account Agreement which we will send to you in due time if you wish to use this service. As mentioned, the Nominee Account will be a sub-account of your firm’s master or main account.

The brokers will charge on a sliding scale, but it is roughly 1.75% on the first £10,000 and 0.5% on the balance with a minimum charge of £25. When the sale of the shares has been accomplished the brokers will issue you with a Contract Note which will tell you the net proceeds of sale and the net amount due to be paid to the Executor’s or our Instructing Firm’s nominated bank account, and it will also state the day on which payment will be made into  the Executor’s or our Instructing Firm’s nominated bank account (if our Instructing Firm is to open that account, it will probably nominate its own Clients Account to receive the monies). We have been finding that it takes the banking system about 3 – 5 days to actually complete the transfer of the monies into the Executor’s or our Instructing Firm’s nominated client bank account from the day that payment is made as set out in the Contract Note, so do not worry if there is a slight delay.

If you wish to use our brokers, please let us know, and we will send you the two page Terms of Business Form for completion and signature by the signers of our Instructing Firm, and also the two page Nominee Account Form for signature by the Executor(s).

If our brokers are to sell the shares, then a Payment Request will have to be signed authorising the brokers to pay ourselves, and the Jersey lawyers from the net proceeds of sale.

We hope that you find the above useful, and if you have any questions please contact us.

We look forward to hearing from you in due time, as we will be pleased to help you.