Extending the scope of probate services to the accounting profession started in 2014, with only a limited number of firms so far meeting the strict requirements of ICAEW, the first non-legal probate regulator.

The probate accreditation allows Grunberg & Co to provide advice on the creation, management and termination of trusts and administer a deceased person’s estate either as executors or on behalf of family executors.

This new service complements the firm’s existing inheritance tax and estate planning services, providing clients with a service which meets all of their requirements, whether passing on the maximum amount of wealth to the next generation or more generally dealing with a person’s estate after death.

Peter McMahon, tax partner at Grunberg & Co will lead the new probate service based in Golders Green. He said: ‘We are one of only a handful of chartered accountancy practices in London to be authorised by the ICAEW to provide probate services and we  are pleased to have already started to provide this service to a few clients.’

In the UK, only 300 out of a potential 12,500 firms have been accredited by the ICAEW to conduct probate work, accounting for just 2.4% of the total accounting market.