ACCA-Probate regulation – guidance for individuals and firms

To be eligible, you must:

• hold a current practising certificate from either the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) or the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW); and
• have successfully completed a relevant course and assessment with an approved provider covering specific areas of probate work.

To apply for authorisation, you will need to complete our online form. You will need to complete the form in one session and will be asked to upload the following documents:

• a copy of your current practising certificate from either the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) or the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW); and
• a copy of your completion certificate for a relevant probate course and assessment.

You must have a Limited Company or LPP firm, separate from your ACCA Accountancy firm, to be designated as a CILEX-ACCA Probate Entity.

We suggest that if details of your new CILEX-ACCA Probate firm have not already been advised to CILEX or CILEx Regulation, please access this link. All we will require at this stage is the full company name and practising address.

This is required to enable us to link an individual’s details to the firm and, once you have received acknowledgement from us that the firm details have been entered in our records, enables you to complete an application for registration as an individual without any delays.

If you are not an ACCA member and do not have an existing ACCA Accountancy practice, then this application is not appropriate for you. You should refer to help on setting up a Law Firm.

To be eligible to apply for a Firm’s Legal Activities Certificate and authorisation to carry out the reserve elements of non-contentious probate activities under the Legal Services Act 2007, you must

• • be a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) with a current practising certificate and existing ACCA Accountancy firm; and
  • have a Limited Company or LPP firm, separate from your ACCA Accountancy firm, to be designated as a CILEX-ACCA Probate Entity; and
  • all the partners/directors and shareholders in the firm seeking authorisation as a CILEX-ACCA Probate firm must be members of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) or the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) and authorised for probate activities.

You will need to complete the online form to be registered as a CILEX Practitioner (ACCA-Probate) before submitting the application for the firm’s authorisation as a CILEX-ACCA Probate firm. Once you are ready, you will need to complete the online form in one session.

As part of the online application process, you will be asked to upload the following documents, so please have them ready in a format that can be uploaded:

• A copy of your firm’s client care documentation sometimes referred to as being the ‘Letter of Engagement’. Your client care documentation must show the regulatory information required of a CILEX-ACCA Probate firm; please use this link for guidance on what is required; and
• a copy of your complaints handling procedure showing how these will be dealt with following authorisation of your CILEX-ACCA Probate firm; and
• a copy of your existing Professional Indemnity Insurance which will cover both your ACCA Accountancy firm/practice, the new CILEX-ACCA Probate firm and lists probate as a service you offer; or
• a copy of a suitable quote for Professional Indemnity Insurance covering both your ACCA Accountancy firm/practice and the new CILEX-ACCA Probate firm.

If you are not an ACCA member and do not have an existing ACCA Accountancy practice, then this application is not appropriate for you. You should refer to help on setting up a Law Firm.

1. Register your personal details on the MyCRL portal
2. If you have not provided CILEx Regulation with the name and address details for your proposed CILEX-ACCA Probate firm, you will need to do this before starting the application to register as a CILEX Practitioner (ACCA-Probate). Please email the name and address details of your proposed CILEX-ACCA Probate firm to: entityandabs@cilexregulation.org.uk. You will receive an email once the name of your proposed CILEX-ACCA Probate firm has been registered on our system and you will then be able to commence the online application process.
3. Select ‘Register as a CILEX Practitioner (ACCA-Probate)’ from the MyCRL dropdown menu.
4. Complete the registration/application in full, uploading the required documents.
5. As part of the application submission, you will be taken to the cart and asked to make payment of the £100 application fee (this fee will be pro rata if you make the application part way through the year).
6. Once your individual registration/application has been completed, you will receive an email to confirm that it has been submitted to CILEx Regulation for review.
7. If you declared any prior conduct in the form, we will not be able to proceed your registration/ application immediately. We will contact you to explain what will happen next.
8. Once you have completed the individual registration application, please return to the MyCRL Portal. You should be able to see that ‘Apply for a CILEX-ACCA Probate Entity’ is now available to select from the MyCRL dropdown menu.
9. If you are the nominated person who will complete the registration/application for the firm, now proceed with the firm application, uploading the required documents.
10. After you have submitted the registration/application, you will then be taken to the checkout. As part of the application submission, you will be taken to the cart and asked to make payment of the £200 application fee (this fee will be pro rata if you make the application part way through the year).
11. Once your firm application has been completed, you will receive an email to confirm that it has been submitted. If an application for a CILEX-ACCA Probate firm involves more than one CILEX Practitioner (ACCA-Probate), all individual applicants need to have registered and been approved before the firm can be authorised.
12. We will review the information that you have submitted and advise you if any further is required.
13. Once we have all the information required, we will advise you by email when your individual application has been approved and your firm authorised. You will receive your certificates valid for the year and your details will be added to our Directory.

The final part of your application includes:

• Standard DBS check
• Reviewing your Professional Indemnity Insurance arrangements to ensure it meets the requirements for a CILEX-ACCA Probate firm
• Ensuring compliance with our Transparency Requirements within 3 months of authorisation

Please refer to the CILEx Regulation ACCA Handbook for details on PII and Transparency Requirements.

Fees

The Fees are as follows for 2023:

• Practising certificate fee as a CILEX Practitioner (ACCA-Probate) – £100
• Annual practising fee for CILEX-ACCA Probate Firm – £200

For new applicants these fees will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

You will also need to complete a standard DBS check in line with all our Practitioner applicants. We will provide details of how to do this once your registration is complete and has been approved. The fee for this check is approximately £35 and is payable to our third-party check provider.

Details of the new firm and any individuals connected will be added to the CILEX-ACCA Probate Firm Directory, together with the details of the linked ACCA accountancy practice. We advise consumers that your PII will cover work carried out by both firms.

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If you have any questions about the process for an individual registration or application or whether you are eligible, please email us at:

applications@cilexregulation.org.uk.

If you have any questions about the process for a firm application or whether you are eligible, please email us at: entityandabs@cilexregulation.org.uk.