Probate Work Costs

Emily’s Experience

Emily will assist you with the work required to administer the estate of your loved one with you.

Information about Emily is on the ‘About me’ page therefore please take a look to find out more.

Emily qualified as a solicitor in 2009.

When it comes to Administering Estates, Emily is highly skilled and has helped several clients through this difficult process. Emily is able to help with any type of estate, from the administration of simple Wills and estates, to more complex Wills and trust structures. Emily can also do the work required to sell property in the estate too.

Costs: Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets

The exact cost and the timescales 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 and timescales will be at the higher end of these estimates. Vat at 20% is charged on all legal fees, and there are also some out of pocket expenses referred to as ‘disbursements’ to incur.

I anticipate the work to take between 15 and 40 hours work at £195 per hour + VAT. Total costs estimated at between £2,925 to £7,800 (+VAT).

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

• There is a valid will
• There is no more than one property
• There are no more than 15 bank or building society accounts
• There are no other intangible asset
• There are 1-10 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 to be incurred will include:

• Probate application fee of £170-180 (this includes the original Grant and a budget for Official copies for us to cover each asset
• Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary)
• £86.40 ex VAT Post in The London Gazette – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
• £50 -100 Post in a Local Newspaper – This also helps to protect against unexpected claims.

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. I 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.
• If any additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost an additional 50p (1 per asset usually).
• Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included.

What’s Included?

• As part of my fee I will:
  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 two copies to you
• Collect and distribute all assets in the estate
• It would not normally be necessary to undertake other work or incur other costs other than those described above. However, we would be very happy to provide you with a more tailored quote for all stages of your particular case once we know about your specific circumstances.

How long will it take?

On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 12 months but a more complex estate can take loner. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate for a simple estate takes up to 12 weeks, for larger or more complex estates it can take longer. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 4-5 weeks, for larger or more complex estates it can take linger. Once this has been done, we can prepare our Executors Account and distribute the assets, which normally takes 4-6 weeks but for larger or more complex estates it can take longer. Bear in mind that sometimes an estate cannot be finalised until any property in the estate has been sold.