Legal Secretary- Estates

We are looking for an experienced Legal Secretary to join our Estates team, supporting fee earners on probate and estate administration matters.

This is a varied and detail-focused role, ideal for someone who enjoys providing high-quality support while working closely with clients during sensitive and often emotional times.

The role

You will play a key part in ensuring probate and estate administration matters progress smoothly, providing proactive administrative and legal support to solicitors and acting as a professional point of contact for clients, executors and beneficiaries.

Key responsibilities

• Providing comprehensive diary management for fee earners, including arranging meetings, calls and travel.
• Acting as a first point of contact for clients, executors and beneficiaries, handling calls and correspondence with professionalism and discretion.
• Liaising with third parties including HMRC, the Probate Registry, banks and the Land Registry.
• Drafting standard correspondence, letters of authority and completing closure and encashment forms.
• Preparing and processing accounts documentation, including payment and receipt forms, and assisting with basic estate financial administration.
• Opening and closing probate files in line with firm procedures and regulatory requirements.
• Collating and maintaining accurate client, beneficiary and estate information, including bank details and identification documentation.
• Logging and tracking key documents such as wills and Grants of Probate, and managing key dates throughout the estate administration process.
• Conducting bankruptcy searches and supporting due diligence requirements.
• Uploading and managing documents using HighQ or similar document management systems.
• Maintaining Excel spreadsheets, including estate account updates and tracking information.
• Supporting fee earners with meeting preparation, document collation and business development activity where required.

About you

• You will have previous experience as a legal secretary, ideally within private client or probate work.
• You are confident dealing with clients and third parties and understand the importance of sensitivity and confidentiality.
• You are highly organised, accurate and comfortable managing multiple priorities.
• You have strong IT skills, including Word and Excel, and are confident producing correspondence and spreadsheets.
• You are a team player with a calm, professional approach and a strong client-service ethos.

You’ll be part of a supportive and collaborative Private Wealth team, working on high-quality probate and estate administration matters and providing meaningful support to clients at important times in their lives.