Dear Practitioner
Following the amendments to the Non-Contentious Probate Rules on the 27th November 2018, please see the specimen “Statement of Truth“ (SOT) below which has been approved by the District Probate Registrars for your guidance.
The main changes are as follows: –
1) There is no need to swear an oath to lead to the grant instead the SOT must be signed by the persons making the statement.
2) The jurat has been replaced and is now a declaration, please see the attached specimen for the appropriate wording.
3) The will no longer needs to be marked by anyone (not even the persons making the SOT)
4) The date of the will must now be included in the SOT, please see the specimen below for the appropriate wording.
Letters of Administration SOT’s are the same, save for reference to the will.
All other details and case specific text will remain the same as the current oath formats.
All other supporting affidavits must be sworn to in the normal way.
For the time being we will still accept sworn oaths under the old procedure and once we have a direction as to when that will stop we will inform you.
If you have any questions about the new procedure please email or write to the Registry and we will endeavour to answer them in our next bulletin in January 2019.
Winchester District Probate Registry
Winchester DPR| HMCTS | 1st Floor Southside Offices | The Law Courts | Winchester | SO23 9EL
Phone: 01962 814100
Web: www.gov.uk/hmcts
SPECIMEN COPY OF “STATEMENT OF TRUTH” (SOT)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
FAMILY DIVISION
(INSERT NAME OF REGISTRY) DISTRICT PROBATE REGISTRY
Extracted by ABC Solicitors
of
IN THE ESTATE OF (INSERT NAME OF DECEASED) DECEASED
We, (INSERT NAME OF EXECUTOR/ADMINISTRATOR) of XXX address and (INSERT NAME OF EXECUTOR/ADMINISTRATOR) of XXX address make the following statement.
1. (INSERT NAME OF DECEASED) of (INSERT ADDRESS) address was born on (INSERT DATE OF BIRTH) and died on (INSERT DATE OF DEATH) aged (INSERT AGE), domiciled in England and Wales having made and duly executed his last will and testament bearing date the (INSERT DATE OF WILL) which is now produced to the Court.
2. The name of the deceased shown on the Death Certificate is (INSERT NAME OF DECEASED AS IT APPEARS IN THE DEATH CERTIFICATE)
3. To the best of our knowledge there was no land vested in the Deceased which was settled before his death (and not by his Will) and which remained settled notwithstanding his death.
4. We are the executors named in the said Will.
5. We will:
(a) Collect and get in the Deceased’s real and personal estate and administer it according to the law;
(b) Exhibit a full inventory of the estate in the Court and render an account of the administration to
the Court when required to do so;
(c) Deliver the grant of probate up to the High Court when required to do so.
6. To the best of our knowledge, the gross estate passing under the grant does not exceed/amounts to £ and the net estate does not exceed/amounts to £ and this is not a case where delivery of an Inheritance Tax Account is required.
We believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true and understand that criminal proceedings for fraud may be brought against us if we are found to have been deliberately untruthful or dishonest.
(Signed)……………………..……… (Signed)……………………………….
(INSERT NAME) (INSERT NAME)
Dated: Dated:
These are two further Statement of Truth documents to use in connection with intestacy and renunciation: