Transparency Of Fees

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Probate

Probate is the general term used to describe the area of law that deals with winding up the affairs of someone who has died. It includes paying any debts or tax due, selling property, etc, and then distributing that person’s estate in accordance with the terms of their Will, if one exists, or determining the beneficiaries under the Rules of Intestacy if a Will does not exist.

Our charges

We offer a bespoke, professional service at a competitive price.

We recognise that there are some relatively straightforward matters where we can immediately give you a fixed quote (for example, you might wish to instruct us to obtain a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration only), whereas other more complex matters will require an estimate.

Our charges currently do not include VAT; however, this may change during the course of the year. We will inform you as soon as the company becomes registered for VAT purposes. We are transparent with our costs at all times.

Full Probate Service

The price, depending on complexity and the overall value of the estate, for a standard Probate, will generally be between £2,000 and £6,000 for estates that are uncontested and have UK assets only.

This does not include disbursements outlined below.

Our full probate services includes:

• Initial meeting and fact-finding
• Collecting information
• Applying for the Grant of Representation
• Placing public notices and undertaking the relevant asset, liability and Will tracing searches (where required)
• Arranging valuations
• Dealing with Inheritance Tax
• Collecting in assets
• Paying any liabilities
• Distributing the estate

It excludes

• Dealing with the sale or transfer of any land in the estate and a separate charge.
• Dealing with a Deed of Renunciation where one or more of the executors wishes to step down. Our price for this, which includes registration is £200.
• Dealing with assets outside of the UK.
• Disputes arising with an estate.

Disbursements such as:-

1. Probate Registry Fee - £155 plus £1.50 for every additional copy of the Grant required.
2. Land Registry registration and search fees.
3. Fees for placing public notices, undertaking asset, liability and Will tracing searches.
4. Tracing Agents and Genealogists fees.
5. Miscellaneous expenses such as travelling expenses.
6. Other professional fees, such as accountants and valuers.

• Requests for information from completed files. Once your file is over and sent for storage we charge £50+VAT for every request for documentation.

All costs including disbursements are payable from the deceased’s estate.

Grant of Representation only

If the Personal Representatives do not wish to instruct us to deal with the full administration of the estate we offer a fixed price alternative to deal with the application for the Grant of Representation and completing the appropriate inheritance tax form(s) only.

This service relies on the Personal Representatives obtaining valuations of all the deceased’s assets and liabilities to enable us to prepare the relevant paperwork, which we would then submit to the Probate Registry and HMRC.

Once the Grant of Representation is then issued we would provide the same to the Personal Representatives to allow them to take the necessary steps to deal with the assets and complete the administration of the estate. However, if the Personal Representatives require any further assistance with the administration of the estate we can provide a costs estimate for this additional work.

Our costs for a Grant of Representation only range from £650 to £1,250 depending on the complexity involved and the relevant inheritance tax form(s) that are required.

In addition to our costs, there is also a Probate Registry fee payable in the sum of £155 together with £1.50 for every additional copy of the Grant required (no VAT is applied).

Probate and the administration of estates

We know how difficult it can be following the death of a loved one, to deal with all the formalities and the work necessary to administer their estate. We have experienced and qualified professionals on hand to guide you through this process.

Our fees are fair and reasonable in all cases and compare favourably with other firms in the area.

We will gladly meet with you to discuss what needs to be done to administer an estate and, if you decide to use our services, we will provide you with a written estimate of our likely charges and timescale, which will be based upon a number of considerations including:

• whether the deceased left a valid Will. Sometimes Wills do not entirely dispose of the deceased’s assets. In those cases, the law sets out who should benefit, and identifying those individuals can sometimes be complex and time consuming.
• whether there are many beneficiaries. It is important that each beneficiary receives what is properly due to them or else they could make a claim against those administering the estate.
• the extent of the deceased’s assets, and the types of assets there are;
• whether there is any tax to be paid. It is crucially important that the correct amount of Inheritance Tax has been paid and indeed that all other tax related matters such as Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax are concluded correctly. Failure to do this can lead to severe penalties from HM Revenue & Customs. However, professional advice can reduce the amount of tax that an estate has to pay by claiming any appropriate reliefs and/or exemptions.
• whether there is an international element to the estate, i.e. foreign assets or beneficiaries living abroad;
• whether the deceased’s estate is subject to any dispute.

Most estates can be administered within 6 to 12 months – although large or more complex estates where Inheritance Tax is payable can take longer than 12 months.

Complications can come out of the woodwork at any time and any change in our estimate would always be communicated with you clearly and as early as possible to take into account any additional unforeseen work.

Our charges are based on:

• The time we spend administering the estate. This includes meetings, telephone calls, correspondence and working on the file. For this we charge an hourly rate of £200.00.
• The value of the estate. In some cases we may charge a value element. This will be based on the Law Society guidance, which will be 1% of the gross estate (but reduced to 0.5% on the value of any property).

Usually, we will also have to pay others for their services which typically include:

• Probate Registry fee – £155 plus £1.50 per sealed Grant required
• Valuation fees of any property, personal possessions or stocks and shares. Such fees are usually somewhere between £75 and £300 plus VAT per valuation.
• Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2.00 per beneficiary)
• Certainty register search – £120 plus VAT approximately.
• Landmark lost assets search – £200 approximately.
• Fee for posting a Trustee Act Notice in the London Gazette – protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors – approximately £200
• Fee for posting a Trustee Act Notice in a local newspaper – this also helps to protect against unexpected claims – approximately £100

The above information is intended to be a guide only. Each estate is different, and our experienced solicitors will be able to provide you with a tailored fixed quote or estimate of our likely charges.