Our Fees: Probate

Alternatively, if you only require a grant to be able to deal with the sale of a property or deal with a straightforward estate, we also offer a ‘grant only’ service where we assist with all steps required up to and including obtaining the grant at which point we would provide this to you to gather in the assets yourself.

Please note our fees are subject to VAT, this tax is set by the UK government and is currently 20%.

Grant Only Service

How much does this service cost?

This service is a fixed fee of £875 plus VAT and disbursements. The current rate of VAT is 20%.

This includes the key stages of:

• Identifying the Executors of the Will or Administrators and beneficiaries of the estate (unless family tree research is required)
• Identifying the type of Probate application you will require
• Meeting you and advising about your responsibilities and duties
• Ascertaining the value of the estate by contacting the asset holders
• Considering the Inheritance Tax position
• Preparing and submitting an application to the Probate Registry
• On receipt of the grant, providing this to you for you to administer the estate yourself

This DOES NOT include:

• This fixed fee does not cover the completion of Inheritance Tax forms and arranging for payment of Inheritance Tax where the estate exceeds the thresholds or is not exempt from filing a full Inheritance Tax return. In these cases, we would discuss the assets involved and provide you with a fixed fee quote.
• Identifying administrators or beneficiaries if family tree research is required

Disbursements:

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. These are payable by the estate. The possible disbursements are:

• Probate fee of £300 plus £1.50 per additional copy of grant
• Land Registry copy deeds of £3
• ID checks on Executors/Administrators of £8 + VAT per Executor/Administrator. The current rate of VAT is 20%.
• Between £200-£400 for a Post in The London Gazette and local newspaper – this protects you against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
• Financial Asset Search £185 + VAT which will ensure all assets are taken into account. The current rate of VAT is 20%.

We will advise you which of the above disbursements are relevant to your case.

Estate Administration Service

How much will it cost?

For a typical estate, we anticipate the costs will fall in the region of £2,500 – £4,000 plus VAT and disbursements. The current rate of VAT is 20%. Our costs would be charged on a time spent basis and our hourly rates are:

• Partner £300 per hour
• Experienced Solicitor £280 per hour
• Solicitor £225 to £235 per hour
• Trainee solicitor or paralegal £170 per hour
• Support staff £120 to £125 per hour

The above hourly rates are exclusive of VAT. The current rate of VAT is 20%.

The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if there is one property and bank accounts with one bank and only one beneficiary then costs will be at the lower end of the range. If there are accounts held with several financial institutions, any complex assets and multiple beneficiaries then costs will be at the higher end. If you are looking for assistance with a more complex estate, we will provide a quote to you on request.

The cost will also depend on the hourly rate of the allocated Probate lawyer. Please note, if a qualified solicitor is dealing with your matter, they will receive support from other members of the team and will delegate work to those with lower hourly rates as appropriate.

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

• There is a valid Will
• Inheritance Tax is not payable (and no reliefs for business or agricultural relief are needed)
• There is no more than one property
• We are not expected to regularly visit the property for insurance purposes
• There are accounts with no more than 5 financial institutions
• There are no business interests
• There are no other intangible assets
• There are 1-5 beneficiaries
• There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets. If a dispute is not easily resolved, we would unfortunately not be able to act and you would need to seek advice from a firm with a contentious probate department
• There are no claims made against the estate

This includes the key stages of:

• Identifying the Executors of the Will and beneficiaries of the estate
• Identifying the type of Probate application you will require
• Meeting you and advising about your responsibilities and duties
• Ascertaining the value of the estate by contacting the asset holders
• Considering the Inheritance Tax position
• Preparing and submitting an application to the Probate Registry
• On receipt of Probate, we will gather in all of the assets, pay any liabilities and reimburse any expenses.
• We will prepare estate accounts for approval by the Executors and carry out bankruptcy searches on all beneficiaries before distributing the estate to them

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. These are payable by the estate. The possible disbursements are:

• • Probate fee of £300 plus £1.50 per additional copy
  • Land Registry copy deeds of £3
  • ID checks on Executors/Administrators of £8 + VAT per Executor/Administrator. The current rate of VAT is 20%.
  • Between £250-£400 for a Post in The London Gazette and local newspaper – this protects you against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
  • Financial Asset Search £185 + VAT which will ensure all assets are taken into account. The current rate of VAT is 20%.
  • Bankruptcy searches of £2 per beneficiary (provided the beneficiaries all live in the UK)

We will advise you which of the above disbursements are relevant to your case.

Potential additional costs

There are likely to be additional costs if any of the following apply:

• There is no Will
• The estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds)
• There are foreign assets
• There are business interests
• There are more than 5 beneficiaries
• The estate needs to pay Inheritance Tax or is required to submit a full Inheritance Tax return
• You need a Deed of Variation or Deed of Appointment
• You need to complete Family Tree Research to ascertain the beneficiaries
• We need to deal with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate

Any additional costs will vary and we would be happy to provide you with a quote after taking some details of the estate on a no obligation basis.

What is NOT INCLUDED?

Registering any Trusts with the Trust Registration Service is not included but we would be happy to give you details of an Accountancy firm who could assist with this if relevant.

Where a claim for Agricultural Relief is needed for Inheritance Tax purposes, unfortunately we would not be able to assist with the estate but we would be happy to provide you with details of a firm who could assist.

How long will it take?

The length of the process can vary from case to case but for straightforward applications, the likely timescales for the key stages are:

• Obtaining the grant of representation – 10 to 16 weeks
• Collecting in the assets – 6 to 8 weeks
• Paying the liabilities and distributing the estate – a further 6 to 8 weeks

These timescales are based on a straightforward probate case and if there are any complicating factors, the likely timescales will be longer. Complicating factors can include:

• There’s no will
• Foreign assets
• Beneficiaries living abroad
• A property to sell
• Any disputes between executors or beneficiaries
• Inheritance Tax is payable
• Any business interests

For a grant only service, the likely timescale is between 10 and 16 weeks for a straightforward case. For estate administration service, overall, a straightforward case is likely to take between 6 and 12 months. For a more complex case, the overall timescale will depend on a number of factors but typically will take between 9 and 18 months. In the most complex cases, the timescale for fully winding up the estate may be longer but usually interim distributions would be made to beneficiaries with a modest sum retained in the estate account pending conclusion.

Contact Us

Please do not hesitate to contact Hayley Baker on 0191 243 8167 to discuss your matter further and obtain a quote.

This work may be undertaken by Nicola Fisher or Alexa Wilson (both Associate Solicitors), Sophie Sherwood or Faye Whitfield-Sykes (both Paralegals). This work is supervised by Elspeth Thomson.