Price and Timescales Guide for Probate
As far as our likely charges to perform the work set out above, these will be in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Law Society for Probate/Legal Administration Work. The charges take into account two elements namely the time we spend in dealing with the administration of the estate and an element for the responsibility for dealing with the assets.
Our prices are based on an hourly rate and for a standard Probate you could expect to pay between £3,825.00 and £10,200.00 + VAT. An estimate of our costs will always be provided once we have assessed the complexity of the estate. The process can take between 6-12 months and 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. For example, if the circumstances were similar to those below then you could expect to pay around £3,825.00 – £5,000.00 + VAT.
- There is a valid will
- There is no more than one property
- There are no more than 3 bank or building society accounts
- There are no other intangible assets
- There are 2-3 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
The second element of our charges is based on the Law Society guidelines, which recommends a charge equivalent to 0.5% of the value of the property assets and 1% of the value of everything else.
Where applicable, VAT will be charged at 20%.
Disbursements
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.
Disbursements included within this cost:
- Probate application fee of £273.00 + £1.50 for every additional copy of the Grant
- Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2.00 per beneficiary)
- Post in The London Gazette and local newspaper– Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors in the region of £100.00 – £200.00 plus VAT
Stages of the 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
- Draft a Legal Statement for you to sign
- Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
- Obtain the Probate then send you a photocopy and provide you with an original sealed copy at the end of the administration
- Collect and distribute all assets in the estate
Factors which would typically increase the cost of the service
- Inheritance tax is payable and a HMRC account needs to be completed. There is an additional cost for preparing tax returns
- There is no Will
- There is contention between the beneficiaries on division of assets.
- There is contention between the executors and the beneficiaries
- There are multiple bank or building society accounts
- Claims are made against the estate
- If any additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost £1.50 each (1 per asset usually). Please note we send original certified copies only if the institution requires sight of a sealed copy of the Grant. Otherwise, we send photocopies stamped as certified copies.
- Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate.
Timescales
In the above example, obtaining the Grant of Probate should take around 3 months. Collecting assets then follows, which would take 2 months. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which in this example would take between 1-2 months. However, these timescales could be greatly extended by circumstances outside of our control such as, an outside claim being made against the estate.
Our team
Our team has over 50 years of collective experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to wills and probate.
Our director Catrin Richards heads up a team of 5 solicitors and has been working in this area for more than 20 years. Our solicitors have between 2 and 30+ years of experience in the area. We always make sure that junior solicitors and members of staff are supported and supervised appropriately so that the quality of advice is not affected, regardless of who is working on your case.
We also employ a team of around 4 support staff who do much of the day-to-day work on cases. Although they are not legally qualified, they work under the direct supervision of a solicitor with at least 5 years post qualification experience.
