DEALING with the death of a loved one can be one of the most stressful times in life.
Now Birkby man Andrew Komarnyckyj has penned a guide to making sure people don?t get ripped off in the process.
The semi-retired solicitor is celebrating the launch of his first book ? Probate Made Simple.
The married dad-of-two wanted to help simplify the probate process, which is often needed to administer a dead person?s estate.
The book will give readers a step-by-step guide outlining what is involved in probate, how solicitors charge and how people can get good value for money where legal involvement is needed.
It also highlights areas of administrative work that people can easily attempt themselves.
Andrew, 53, worked as a solicitor for 15 years dealing with probate issues.
He was head of the probate department at Huddersfield-based Chadwick Lawrence?s Wakefield office.
He was also partner at a Bradford law firm.
He left the profession last year to set up the www.willsprobateandmore.co.uk website.
And after looking at many of the do-it-yourself probate guides already on the market, he decided there was a need to help clients get the best out of their probate solicitors.
He said: ?With solicitors? firms, probate is often regarded as an area of work where they can get high margins.
?For some firms, it can be the most profitable area.
?A client is not going to have a good idea whether they are getting a good or bad price.
?The book talks about how much time solicitors are likely to spend on tasks and how much they are likely to charge you.
?It should help people form a view of whether they are being charged fairly or unfairly for probate work and if they want to save money, how they can do some of the work themselves.?
When someone dies and leaves a will, a Grant of Probate is needed by the executors of the will, allowing them to deal with the dead person?s assets.
When there is no will, relatives also have to apply to the probate registry to deal with the estate.
The book is the first Andrew has written since retiring from the profession last year.
It took him around three months to complete and he was delighted to land a publishing deal soon after.
He said: ?Now I have got something published, it has given me the confidence that I can put words together. I may now strike out in a different direction.?
