Fees – Probate

How much does Probate cost?

Initial advice about Probate

We will provide you with initial information free of charge by telephone. During that call, we will provide general information about whether you need to make an application to the Probate Registry and what is involved in dealing with the estate.

The next step would be a meeting in the office or remotely to review any documents you may have, to gather information about the estate and provide specific advice about next steps.  This may include what you would need to do if you were considering applying to the Probate Registry without a lawyer.  Our fee for this meeting is £300 including VAT.    This includes the first letter to you confirming the outcome of our meeting, costs information and the next steps,

We set out our fees in detail below as we want to be transparent as to the fees that might apply to your case. However, we appreciate that the fees below might seem confusing, as there are so many different scenarios. Every case is unique. Therefore, in the first letter to you, we shall set out the costs that apply to your particular case.

Application for Grant of Probate or Representation

You may choose to instruct us to apply for the Grant only, and you will deal with the administration of the estate after the Grant is obtained.   The fee that we charge you will depend on the circumstances and how much you need us to do for you.

The scenarios set out below apply to circumstances where there is a Will. 

Application for Grant only – no communication with organisations other than the Probate Registry

£900 including VAT at 20% – Where there is a Will – Completing and submitting the application for the Grant of Representation to the Probate Registry after you have provided all relevant information about all assets and liabilities concerning the estate, and no inheritance tax account required.  This fee does not include any communication with third parties, and we will not receive any funds except those in relation to the payment of fees.  We estimate that we would spend 3 hours dealing with the application.

£1,680 including VAT at 20% – Completing and submitting the application for the Grant of Representation to the Probate Registry after you have provided all relevant information about all assets and liabilities in relation to the estate, and an inheritance tax account is required.  This fee does not include any communication with third parties, and we will not receive any funds except those concerning the payment of fees. We estimate that we would spend 5 and 1/2 hours dealing with the application.

 

Application for Grant to include some communication with organisations other than the Probate Registry and collecting assets

£2580 including VAT at 20% – Before we apply for the Grant, you instruct us to ascertain details of assets and liabilities, to include contacting up to 5 organisations to gather the relevant information and documentation.  No inheritance tax account is required.  We also collect in the assets from up to 5 organisations. We estimate that we would spend 3 hours dealing with the application. We estimate that we would spend 8 and a half hours dealing with the estate.

£4080 including VAT at 20% – Before we apply for the Grant, you instruct us to ascertain details of assets and liabilities, to include contacting up to 10 organisations to gather the relevant information and documentation.  No inheritance tax account is required.  We also collect in the assets from up to 10 organisations. We estimate that we would spend 13 and a half hours dealing with the estate.

£5580 including VAT at 20% – Before we apply for the Grant, you instruct us to ascertain details of assets and liabilities, to include contacting more than 10 organisations to gather the relevant information and documentation.  No inheritance tax account is required. We also collect in the assets from the organisations. We estimate that we would spend 18 and a half hours dealing with the estate.

 

Distribution and finalisation of the estate

After we have collected in the assets, executors and trustees may choose to distribute those assets to the beneficiaries and finalise the estate themselves.  Alternatively you may instruct us to distribute and finalise the estate.  If so our additional work will be charged at £300 per hour (including VAT at 20%).  After obtaining the Grant and collecting the assets, we shall at that stage be able to provide to you an accurate estimate of our additional fees based upon the number of hours it is likely to take us to distribute and finalise the estate.

 

The final fee is dependent on the size and complexity of the estate, but we shall provide an estimate of our fees at the outset based on the information provided and dependent on the number of hours it is likely to take to administer the estate. This will be reviewed throughout the matter.

Below are some examples of fees that would apply in certain scenarios.  The fees set out below are in addition to any application fees paid to the Probate Registry.

£3300 (including VAT at 20%) to include contacting relevant organisations to collect in and close accounts, preparing estate accounts, and distributing the estate on the basis that it would take around 11 hours to administer the estate.  This fee applies where the deceased left a Will appointing executors. The assets in the estate would be one property, not more than 5 accounts with financial institutions, and not more than 5 liabilities such as credit card bills and utility bills.  There would be no more than four beneficiaries, all of whom are alive and are easily identifiable. There would be no disputes and no need to submit an inheritance tax return.

£5400 (including VAT at 20%) to include contacting relevant organisations to collect in and close accounts, preparing estate accounts, and distributing the estate on the basis that it would take around 18 hours to administer the estate.  This fee applies where the deceased left a Will appointing executors. The assets in the estate would be one property, more than 5 accounts with financial institutions, and/or more than 5 liabilities, such as credit card bills and utility bills, (no more than 10 organisations in total) and/or more than four beneficiaries, all of whom are alive and are easily identifiable. There would be no disputes and no need to submit an inheritance tax return.

Add-on fees

£300 including VAT at 20% is charged in addition to the fees above where there is no Will (Intestacy) on the basis that an additional hour will be spent dealing with the estate

£1500 (including VAT at 20%) is charged in addition to the above fees, if there is no valid Will or an out-of-date Will that results in the beneficiaries not being easily identified and located, on the basis that an additional 5 hours will be spent dealing with the estate

£1200 including VAT at 20% is charged in addition to the fees set out above, where a full Inland Revenue Account is required (Inheritance Tax forms required by HMRC), but no Inheritance Tax is payable on the basis that an additional 4 hours will be spent dealing with the estate

£1800 including VAT at 20% is charged in addition to the fees set out above, where a full Inland Revenue Account is required (Inheritance Tax forms required by HMRC) and Inheritance Tax is payable on the basis that an additional 6 hours will be spent dealing with the estate

£1500 (including VAT at 20%) is charged in addition to the above fees, if there is a business asset, on the basis that an additional 5 hours will be spent dealing with the estate

£1500(including VAT at 20%) is charged in addition to the above fees, if there is foreign property, on the basis that an additional 5 hours will be spent dealing with the estate

£1500 (including VAT at 20%) is charged in addition to the above fees, if inheritance tax is payable, on the basis that an additional 5 hours will be spent dealing with the estate

£4500 (including VAT at 20%) is charged in addition to the above fees, if our firm is acting as executors, on the basis that an additional 15 hours will be spent dealing with the estate

£540 (including VAT at 20%) is charged in addition to the above fees for each transfer of property to one or more beneficiaries.

The fees above do not include:-

• Dealing with disputes about the terms of the Will or other claims against the estate.
• The inheritance tax paid to HMRC
• Conveyancing costs associated with selling a property that forms part of the estate.  These are charged on a fixed fee basis.   Our fees are set out here

Fees paid to third parties

In addition, there will be payments to third parties such as:-

• Probate application fee of £526.
• £16 per copy of the Grant.
• Fees paid to the Land Registry relating to property.
• Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches
• Post in The London Gazette – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
• Post in a Local Newspaper – This also helps to protect against unexpected claims.

Unless we tell you otherwise, these fees will not attract VAT.

How long will probate and administration take?

Typically, obtaining the grant of representation takes 10 to 12 weeks after having gathered all of the necessary figures to prepare the application. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 2 to 4 months. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 2 to 4 weeks.  This does not include the time it takes to sell any property that forms part of the estate.

What services and key stages are included?

Typically, the process for the application for the Grant of Probate and administration of the estate shall be as follows:

1. You should bring to your first appointment the original Will (if there is one), death certificate, proof of your identity and address, and any documents you have relating to the financial position of the deceased.
2. If you have not done so already and/or wish us to deal with the administration of the estate, we write to all relevant financial institutions (such as HMRC, pension companies, utility companies, and banks) to gather the information and figures necessary to complete the application to the Probate Registry.
3. We prepare the Legal Statement for you to approve and sign in support of the application.
4. We prepare and send to the Probate Registry the application for Grant of Probate (if there is a Will) or Letters of Administration (if there is no Will).
5. After the Grant/Letters of Administration is/are received from the Probate Registry, we either give the document to you (if you are dealing with the distribution and finalisation of the estate yourself) or we proceed to distribute and finalise the estate.
6. If you have instructed us to distribute the estate, pay any liabilities owed by the estate, and distribute the funds to beneficiaries after all funds have been collected.
7. If you have instructed us to finalise the estate, we shall prepare and send to you the Estate Accounts for your approval.

 

Who will be dealing with my case?

Your case will be dealt with by Adele Baskerville (Chartered Legal Executive) and Emma Paxton  (Paralegal). They are assisted by legal assistants and trainee solicitors, who will be identified in the first letter sent to you, and as the case progresses, if there is any change.

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Phone our Newcastle Under Lyme office on 01782 627589 for free initial information.