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 Executors, an Administrator will need to be appointed.
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
The work will principally be undertaken by Sean Devlin who is a solicitor with over 10 years experience of this type of work
Pricing
The fees involved in a probate matter can vary and this will depend on the individual circumstances involved.
We offer both fixed fees and an hourly rate charging rate, whereby you will be charged for each hour of work undertaken.
We have three fee levels:-
- Grant of Probate only
- Grant of Probate and administration of Estate
- Grant of Probate and administration of Estate with Inheritance Tax
Grant of Probate
We can help you through this difficult process by obtaining the Grant of Probate on your behalf.
We offer a fixed fee service for obtaining the Grant where certain criteria is satisfied. The criteria is as follows:
- The overall estate is less than £200,000
- You provide us with details of the date of death valuations for the assets
- All the assets are in the UK
- The relevant inheritance tax form is IHT205
- There are no disputes between beneficiaries and the Will is uncontested. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
Pricing
TOTAL: fixed fee of £1058 (inc. VAT)
This includes: obtaining the grant
Breakdown of costs:
Legal fees £650 (& VAT)
VAT on legal fees £130
Disbursements included in the price (£278 in total):
- Probate court fee of £273
- £5 Swearing of the oath (per executor) plus £2 for any exhibit such as a Will.
Optional disbursements:
- £1.50 per copy of the Grant
- £187.06 Post in The London Gazette and in Local Newspaper – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors
- Will search fee of £114 – this is optional, but you may wish to consider in estates where there is no Will
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.
As part of our fixed fee we will:
- Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor to work on your matter
- Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
- Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
- Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application
- Complete the Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms
- Draft a legal oath for you to swear
- Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
- Obtain the Probate and securely send however many copies you request to you
Timescales
On average, obtaining the Grant in estates that fall within this range is dealt with within 4-12 weeks. This is only a guide and please be assured that we will undertake the work as quickly as possible.
Grant of Probate and Administration of Estate
Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets where the estate falls within certain criteria
Pricing
We anticipate this will take between 5 and 25 hours work at £220 (& VAT of £44) per hour. Total costs estimated at £1100 - £5500 (& VAT of £220-£1100 ) plus disbursements.
In addition to the above our charge will contain an element based on the value of the estate because the value is to reflect the importance of the matter and consequently the responsibility on our firm. Therefore, we also charge 1% of the gross value of the personal estate (i.e. of the total estate but excluding a house). The rate is 0.5% in respect of a house.
If our firm are named as Executors in the Will those charges will be 1.5% and 0.75% respectively
The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter and the overall value of the estate. 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, costs will be at the higher end.
We will handle the full process for you. This quote is for estates where:
- 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 1-8 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
Disbursements included in this fee:
- Probate application fee of £273
- £5 Swearing of the oath (per executor) plus £2 for any affidavit such as a Will
- Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary).
Optional disbursements:
- £1.50 per copy of the Grant
- £187.06 Post in The London Gazette and in local newspaper – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
- Will search fee of £114 – this is optional, but you may wish to consider in matters where there is no Will
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.
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.
Timescales
On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 6-12 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 4-16 weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 4-12 weeks. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 1-4 weeks. This is only a guide and please be assured that we will undertake the work as quickly as possible.
Grant of Probate and Administration of Estate with Inheritance Tax Return
Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets where IHT400 is required and inheritance tax is payable
We anticipate this will take between 15 and 45 hours work at £220 (& VAT of £44) per hour. Total costs estimated at £3300-£9900 (& VAT of £660 - £1980) plus disbursements.
In addition to the above above our charge will contain an element based on the value of the estate because the value is to reflect the importance of the matter and consequently the responsibility on our firm. Therefore, we also charge 1% of the gross value of the personal estate (i.e. of the total estate but excluding a house)The rate is 0.5% in respect of the house. If our firm are named as Executors in the Will then we charge 1.5% and 0.75% respectively.
The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. 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, costs will be at the higher end.
We will handle the full process for you. This quote is for estates where:
- Inheritance tax is payable
- 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
Disbursements included in this fee:
- Probate application fee of £273
- £5 Swearing of the oath (per executor) plus £2 for any affidavit such as a Will.
- Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary).
Optional disbursements:
- £1.50 per copy of the Grant
- £187.06 Post in The London Gazette and in local newspaper – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
- Will search fee of £114 – this is optional, but you may wish to consider in matters where there is no Will
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.
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. 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
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.
Timescales
On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 9-18 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 4-16 weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 4-12 weeks. In most circumstances we recommend that a Clearance Certificate is obtained from HMRC prior to administering the Estate. Once this has been received, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 1-4 weeks. This is only a guide and please be assured that we will undertake the work as quickly as possible.