Fees in a probate matter vary and depend on the individual circumstances involved. Some services are provided on a fixed fee basis and some on a time spent basis.
If there is a will or where there is no will. We can help by obtaining the Grant of Probate / Letters Of Administration on your behalf. This will then be provided to the Executors / Administrators who deal with the remainder of the administration themselves.
This is for non-taxable estates where a full tax account is not required. This includes:
Collating documents required to make the application
Completing the application for Probate or Letters of Administration and the necessary HMRC Forms.
Preparing Legal Statement for you to sign
Making the application to the Probate Registry on your behalf
Obtaining the Probate / Letters Of Administration and sending copies to you
Costs- £1,000 plus disbursements. No VAT is payable.
If a full tax account is required then there is an increased fee to cover the cost of submitting the IHT account to HMRC.
Costs- £1,500 plus disbursements. No VAT is payable.
Anticipated Disbursements
Probate Fee- £273.00
Copy for the Grant of Probate (per copy) – £1.50
Additional fees (not applicable in all cases)
Land Registry Search fee (only if there is a property) – £3
Land Registry registration fees (depending upon value of property)
(these fees may be higher if the property is not registered)
£20.00 to 125.00
Bankruptcy Search fee (per beneficiary)- £2
Inheritance Tax
Various factors that will affect the Inheritance Tax due on an estate, including estate value, identity of the beneficiaries, allowances available, and certain dealings with assets prior to death.
More information can be found at the following link on the .gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hmrc-tools-and-calculators#inheritance-tax-and-bereavement
Additional Costs
Certain events may mean that there are additional costs incurred, for example where a trust is established under the Will, if there are missing or incapacitated beneficiaries or if the deceased had numerous accounts and/or shareholdings with different financial institutions. This will be discussed with you in detail with the addition of additional fees.
Selling a property is not included in the costs set out above, if this is required, please let us know and we will provide you with an estimate in that regard.
Exclusions
There may be factors which would increase the costs. If this is the case, we will make sure you are fully informed of these at the earliest opportunity and a clear estimate of those extra costs will be provided.
In addition there may be further services required that involve paying fees to a third party, these may include tax advice and valuations for property, shares, investments or other assets.
Time Scales
It is taking take approximately 4 months to obtain the Grant for a straight forward estate and for more complex estates up to 6 months. If Inheritance Tax is payable or there are foreign properties involved then this timescale is likely to increase.
Key Milestones
With every transaction there are key milestones, which may vary according to individual circumstances. They may be as follows:
Applying for the Grant
Obtaining the Grant
Collecting funds ready for distribution
Settling Liabilities
Producing Estate Accounts
Distributing funds
Staff undertaking all above work
Fee Earner Qualification Hourly rate
Yasar Ali Solicitor – £200