Price Transparency – Probate

Our fees for dealing with estate administration vary depending on the level of work required and the value of the estate.

Our fees are detailed below:

Probate Only Application

We can help you through this difficult process by obtaining the Grant of Probate on your behalf.

This service includes preparing and submitting the application for a Grant based on the information which you have provided to us.

How much does this service cost?

Where there is no inheritance tax payable or any need to submit an inheritance tax account to HMRC, our fixed fee is £950 plus VAT.

Where an IHT400 is due, meaning there is a need to submit an inheritance tax account to HMRC, our fixed fee is £2,500 plus VAT.

Addition to the fixed fee quoted above there will be the following disbursements:

Probate Court fee of £300.00

Additional copies of the Grant of Probate at £1.50 per copy.

For the fixed fee stated above we will:

Provide you with a dedicated and experienced Probate Solicitor to work on your matter;

Identify the legally appointed Executors or Administrators;

Identify the type of probate application your require;

If relevant, submit the IHT400 to HMRC;

Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf;

Obtain the Probate and securely send the sealed copies to you.

On average, non-taxable estates are dealt with within 16-18 weeks depending on the current wait for the issuing of Grants.  Estates requiring an IHT400 are likely to take longer.

Applying for the Grant, collecting and distributing the assets – full estate administration

This service includes our involvement from the beginning to the end of the estate administration process.

Time spent on the file is charged at our hourly rate of £275 plus VAT and our fees will begin at £5,000 plus VAT depending on the level of work involved.

We will handle the full process for you. This quote is for estates where:

• There is a valid Will.
• There is no more than one property.
• There are no more than 5 bank or building society accounts.
• There are no other intangible assets.
• There are up to 4 beneficiaries.
• There are no disputes between beneficiaries and the 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 inheritance tax account to HMRC.
• There are no claims made against the estate.

The following disbursements will be additional to our fees. These will include:

• Probate application of £300.00.
• Bankruptcy searches against each beneficiary of £2.00 per beneficiary.
• Approximately £200.00 to issue statutory advertisements in the London Gazette and a local newspaper – this helps protect against unknown creditors.

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Court fee.   We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Where the estate exceeds the above and is classed as more complicated, our fees will more likely be in the region of £12,000 plus VAT upwards.

Potential Additional Costs

If there is no Will or the estate consists of any shareholdings (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.

If any additional copies of the Grant are required they will cost £1.50 per copy. We usually obtain one copy of the Grant for each asset in the estate.

Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included.

How long will this take?

On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 9-12 months. Typically, obtaining the Grant of Probate takes 16 weeks.   Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 4-6 weeks.   Once this has been done, the sale of any property has been completed and any statutory advertisements have expired, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 2-4 weeks.

Who will deliver the Services?

The services will be delivered by one of the Solicitors in the Private Client Department.  Each of the members of our Team has many years of post qualification experience, including Tracey Wright (Partner) and Raegan Leather (Partner) who Heads the Department.