Probate anyone applied themselves?

Sadly the person who passed away was a terrible hoarder for many years, I hardly know where to start.

Any further help from Gransnet members would most welcome.

Thank you all for your advice. I am going to try doing it myself.
The person who has sadly passed away has left their affairs in a terrible mess to sort.

A huge amount is owed to an Equity Release company and the interest is added at 6.59% every day until the flat is sold.

The flat will need work done on it before it could be put on the market.

There is a car to be sold but loan to a finance company is a lot more than the car is worth.

I am worried that the money I have spent so far out of my own pocket will be lost.

Will these large finance companies be able to claim repayments over what is owed to me for my out of pocket expenses ?

I was executor for my Mum's will. Back in 2002.
I admit I still don't really understand the whole system but in those days I personally took all the papers into London to the main Probate office and registered them there.
It was all processed very quickly but things have changed.

I also did it when my husband died. I applied online they sent me all the forms. It does seem complicated at first reading but it is very well explained in the accompanying leaflet. You just have to make sure everything is signed in the right order but on the whole I found it quite straightforward.

I can confirm Nannarose's advice. I applied for Probate on-line after my husband died last year.
The on-line service is great with help sheets and the Probate Office itself were very helpful.
Yes, it did help part of the grieving process.

Yes, I have, twice. I can't help specifically with 'online' but can say this:
Begin at gov.uk and follow the links
The Probate Office are very helpful, so I suggest you ring them with any queries, they will talk you through what is needed
Take your time:
find a space to spread all the papers out
use different coloured post-its to mark anything you need
keep a sheet of paper listing what you have done so you can keep track.

I personally found it a useful part of grieving to do this last piece of work.
good luck