Price Transparency Information (Probate)

Our work is charged either on our standard hourly rate for the time taken to complete a matter, or it may be provided on a fixed fee basis.

Full estate administration service

If based on the time taken, our charges are based on the time we spend dealing with a matter. Time spent on your affairs will include meetings with you and perhaps others; considering, preparing and working on papers, correspondence, and making and/or receiving telephone calls and dealing with any inheritance tax issues etc.

We will then charge you £230 plus VAT per hour for each hour of work undertaken by your Solicitor/Legal Executive or £240 per hour plus VAT if your work is undertaken by the Partner from the beginning of the matter until our annual review date on 1 May of each year. A typical cost estimate ranges from between £2,000 to £6,000 and VAT for smaller and straightforward estates; £5,000 to £10,000 plus VAT for mid-value and slightly more complicated matters, and £8,000 to £15,000 plus VAT for high value complex matters.

As stated above, the exact costs will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter including the size of any given estate and the complexity of the work that is involved. As such, our estimates are not intended to be fixed and the exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances. For example, if there is one beneficiary and no property, costs will be at the lower end of the range. If there are multiple beneficiaries, a property and multiple bank accounts or inheritance tax that is payable etc., then our costs will be at the higher end.

An Estate which is likely to be classed as a small or straightforward Estate would be one where:

• There is a valid will
• There is no more than one property
• There are no more than a few bank or building society accounts
• There are no other intangible assets
• There is not a large number of beneficiaries
• There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
• There is no inheritance tax payable and the executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC
• There are no claims made against the estate

If this firm does not complete the work, we will charge for the work we have done.   We will also review with you the estimate of the total charges after the Grant of Probate has been obtained or every 6 months thereafter.   Our charges will not exceed the estimate unless we have first discussed this with you and we have confirmed the revised estimate in writing.

Disbursements are payable in addition to this estimate of our time spent in the matter. Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Disbursements included in our fee will be:

• The District Probate Registry’s fee of £300 for the grant of representation plus £1.50 pence per sealed copy required (usually one is required per asset);
• Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary);
• Bank Account Verification checks for each beneficiary of £5 plus VAT;
• Our standard identification checks of £10 plus VAT for each client and beneficiary;
• Land Registry Charges from £10 plus VAT per search;
• A Statutory Notice fee of circa £300 Post in The London Gazette and a Local Newspaper. Personal Representatives have the choice of whether or not to take the protection of statutory advertisements. If they feel confident that they know the estate’s finances in detail they may choose not to do this, but if they are unsure then they may need to consider whether to arrange “statutory advertisements.” Once Personal Representatives distribute an estate they are personally liable for any liabilities that they were not necessarily aware of at the time of administering the estate. To protect themselves, Personal Representatives can use statutory advertisements which, once the advertisements have appeared in the requisite publications and two months have passed from the date, they can distribute the estate with the protection of having done the statutory advertisements, as any creditor or person owed money by the deceased needs to notify Personal Representatives within two months of the statutory advertisements appearing.

Potential additional costs

• If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there is likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.
• Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included in the quote for Full Estate Administration.
• The Estate may need to file Tax returns for the deceased and we can refer this to a Chartered Certified Accountant for an income tax review. The results of the tax review will be reported to you and if further tax work is recommended a quote for the cost of the further tax work will be provided. It may also be that the Estate is required to submit an Income Tax return for Income and Gains made during the Administration period. We can also refer this to a Chartered Certified Accountant to be completed on the Estates' behalf.
• Any taxes payable may require to be settled during the Estate administration process and are not included in our estimate. These costs will be additional to our estimate. You can check what the tax liability might be by following this link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hmrc-tools-and-calculators

How long will this take?

On average, non-taxable or straightforward Estates will take between 9-12 months to complete with more complicated and taxable Estates taking between 12-18 months. Typically, obtaining the relevant information to apply for probate will take 8-12 weeks, and then obtaining the Grant of Probate is currently taking up to 16 weeks from the date of application (providing the Probate Registry has no enquiries on the application). Once Probate has been obtained, we will then proceed to collect in the assets and liabilities, deal with any ancillary matters such as Capital Gains Tax issues and Income Tax and then proceed to distribute the assets as per the Will following approval of the Estate Accounts.

Fixed Fee Grant only service

We offer a fixed fee of £995 plus VAT and disbursements for a non-taxable Estate where no Inheritance Tax return is required. If an Inheritance Tax account is required or the Estate is a taxable Estate the fee will be fixed at the start of the matter. The fees for this type of matter are from £1,500 plus VAT and disbursements based on how complex the matter is. Generally, these types of matters are fixed between £1,500-£3,000 plus VAT and disbursements. 

If you instruct us on a Grant only matter, following the obtaining of the Grant, you will be dealing with the remainder of the administration of the Estate and deal with the liabilities of the Estate and any tax owed directly yourself. You will be responsible for providing us with the relevant information about the Estate. Our fee will remain fixed unless the information we were given by you is shown to be incorrect or if circumstances change. In addition to our costs, you will be required to pay our disbursements. Typically on a Grant only application, our disbursements will include:

• Our standard identification checks of £10 plus VAT for each client
• Land Registry Searches of £10 plus VAT per search
• The District Probate Registry’s fee of £273 for the Grant of Representation plus £1.50 pence per sealed copy of the Grant.

If we do not complete the work, we will charge you for the work we have done. Our bill will then also include VAT and expenses. In these circumstances, our charges will be based on the time we spent dealing with a matter. Time spent on your affairs will include meetings with you and perhaps others; considering, preparing and working on papers; correspondence; and making and receiving telephone calls. We will then charge you £230 per hour plus VAT for each hour of work undertaken by your Solicitor/Legal Executive or £240 per hour plus VAT if your work is undertaken by the Partner now until the review date on 1 May of each year.

Fixed Fee estate administration service

In limited circumstances, we may be able to help you through this difficult process by obtaining the Grant of Probate on your behalf, together with collecting and distributing of assets on a fixed fee basis. This service usually only applies to very small or straightforward Estates.

How much does this service cost?

The fixed fee will be set at the beginning of the matter and is based on how complex the matter is. These fees tend to range from £2,500-£5,000 plus VAT and disbursements.

Here are some more links you may find useful:

https://www.ageuk.org.uk

https://sfe.legal

https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance