Probate Pricing

Thank you for looking at our probate services. Coping with the death of a person can bring a mixture of emotions and the legal side of dealing with a person’s death can often be overwhelming and confusing. Having compassionate, experienced legal advice can make this difficult situation much easier on you and your loved ones.

Whether the deceased person left a Will or whether there is substantial wealth and property involved, the sense of burden can increase. Where a Will is in existence the Executors will need to apply for the grant of probate which will give them the legal right to administer the estate. Where there is no Will in existence, the Will is invalid, or it does not specify Executor, an Administrator will need to be appointed.

Each office has a team of Probate lawyers who may work on your matter, their details including their experience and qualifications can be found under the Our Team area of our website. All members of the Probate Department are supervised by Baljit Bem who is Head of the Probate Department.

Why Us

We have an experienced team who can assist you with every aspect of the probate process, reducing the administrative burden and advising sensitively on key decisions which need to be made when managing an estate. We are aware that administering an estate comes at a time of grief and high emotion, and that most people do not know the processes and legal requirements involved.

We will give you a clear time frame of how long probate should take and will keep you and any beneficiaries advised throughout.

You will have the confidence that you are our priority, with our aim being that any member of the team is available to speak with you when you need some clarity and certainty at any stage in the process. We feel this provides reassurance and gives you an outlet for any concerns that you may have. Fees are generally paid out of the estate, so there may not be a need for you to fund the administration personally.

We are proud to hold Lexcel Accreditation, issued by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. This involves the firm undergoing a rigorous audit process which ensures we maintain high levels of client care.

Pricing

The fees involved in a probate matter can vary and this will depend on the individual circumstances involved. The following information relates to estates where all assets are located in the United Kingdom.

We offer hourly rate charging where you will be charged for each hour of work undertaken. Our hourly rates are between £150 plus VAT of £30.00 ( a total of £180.00) and £350 plus VAT of £70.00 ( a total of £420.00).

Range of Costs - Application for Grant of Representation only

We can help you through this process by obtaining the Grant of Representation on your behalf, and you can then collect and distribute the estate yourself if you feel confident in doing so.

How much does this service cost ?

We anticipate that our legal fees will range between £900 + VAT of £180.00 (a total £1,080) to £1,500 + VAT of £300.00 (a total £1,800) and disbursements.

The exact costs will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example the costs will be at the higher end :-

If there is no Will or
If it is necessary to apply for the Residence Nil Rate Band
If it is necessary to apply for the Transferable Nil Rate Band
If it is necessary to give notice to one or more executors
If it is necessary to prepare a renunciation for one or more executors

As part of our fee we will:

Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor or legal executive to work on your matter
Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators
Accurately identify the type of application you will require
Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application
Complete the application and HMRC IHT205 Form (if applicable)
Draft a statement of truth
Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
Obtain the Grant of Representation and forward this to you together with the number of office copies you require

Disbursements not included in this fee:

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 and have set out below those we anticipate would be needed.

Probate application fee of £273
Additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost £1.50 plus VAT of £0.30 (a total of £1.80). 1 per asset usually.

Range of Costs - Application for Grant, Collecting and Distributing the Assets

We can assist you in collection and distribution of the assets as well as applying for the Grant

How much does this service cost?

We anticipate that our legal fees will range between £2,500 + VAT of £500 (a total of £3,000) to £5,000 plus VAT of £1,000 ( a total of £6,000) and disbursements.

The exact costs will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if there is one beneficiary and no property the costs will be at the lower end of the range. If there are multiple beneficiaries and multiple bank accounts, costs will be at the higher end.

As part of our fee we will:

Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor or legal executive to work on your matter
Identify the legally appointed executors, administrators and beneficiaries
Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
Ascertain the extent of the estate in order to make the application
Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application
Complete the Probate Application and relevant HMRC Forms
Draft a statement of truth
Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
Obtain the Probate and as many office copies as are required
Lodge the Grant with the asset holders to collect in the assets
Prepare the Estate Accounts for approval
Collect and distribute all assets in the estate in accordance with the Will.

Disbursements not included in this fee

Probate application fee of £273
Additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost £1.50 plus VAT of £0.30 (a total of £1.80). 1 per asset usually.
Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches £6.00 plus VAT of £1.20, (a total of £7.20) per beneficiary
Post in The London Gazette and in the Local Newspapers – this also helps to protect against unexpected claims – approximately £300.00 as dependent on local newspapers

Inheritance Tax

There are various factors that will affect any Inheritance Tax due on an estate, including the size of the estate and any measures that were put in place by the deceased to limit the estates tax liability.

We do not believe that it would be sensible to attempt to provide at this stage an estimate of any tax that may be payable. For general guidance, we would advise you to look on the HMRC Website to calculate Inheritance Tax which may be due, the calculators can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hmrc-tools-and-calculators#inheritance-tax-and-bereavement

Additional Costs

In the following circumstances there is likely to be an additional cost depending on the estate and how it is to be handled. We will discuss this with you in detail and advise of any additional fees.

There is no valid Will
Any of the executors have died or refuse to act
The estate consists of more than one property
The estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds)
There are more than 3 bank or building society accounts.
There are other intangible assets
There are more than 4 beneficiaries
There are beneficiaries who do not have capacity under the Mental Health Act or are minors
There are missing beneficiaries
There are disputes between beneficiaries on the division of assets.
There are trusts in the Will
There are claims made against the estate
An IHT400 needs to be completed due to the value of the estate or any gifts made during the lifetime of the deceased.
Inheritance Tax is payable
Business Property Relief needs to be applied for
Agricultural Relief needs to be applied for
Numerous legacies need to be paid

The cost of selling or transferring a property is not included in this price, if you require this service, please let us know and we will provide you with an estimate in that regard.

There may be other factors which would typically increase the cost of the fees involved. Where there is likely to be any additional cost, we will make sure you are informed of this at the earliest opportunity and a clear estimate of those extra costs will be provided.

Additional services that may require the assistance of a third party at additional cost include:

Tax advice
Valuations for property, savings, investments or other assets

Time Scales

If you wish us to obtain the Grant this typically takes 6 to 12 weeks.

If you wish us to obtain the Grant and also to collect and distribute the assets, cases where estates fall within the above estimate of £2,500 + VAT of £500 ( a total of £3,000) to £4,500 plus VAT of £900.00 ( a total of £5,400) are usually dealt with within 4 to 8 months. Generally, the time taken to obtain the Grant will be between 6 to 12 weeks. Once this has been done, we can collect in the assets which will normally take a further 4 to 6 weeks. Once the assets have been collected in we can prepare the estate accounts for approval and thereafter we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 6 to 12 weeks. If there is a property to be sold it will take longer as it will be dependant upon how long it takes to sell the property, and how long it then takes to complete the sale. The range takes into account handling everything from straightforward estates through to more complex estates.

Key Milestones

With every transaction there are key milestones, which may vary according to individual circumstances. They may be as follows:

Applying for Grant of Probate
Obtaining Grant of Probate
Settling Liabilities
Collecting funds ready for distribution
Producing Estate accounts
Distributing funds

We welcome enquiries and are happy to meet for a free of charge initial consultation. This will give us a chance to discuss matters with you and to provide you with an estimate of the potential costs tailored to your particular circumstances