Administration of Estates
Probate and Administration of an Estate.
Every Estate is different and we would always be prepared to meet with you on a no obligation basis to explain the process and to agree a fee structure that relects the time that may be involved and the particular isssues that may be encountered with your particular estate
However, to assist you we have set out below a summary of the likely costs involved in dealing with a modest estate, either where we are instructed to simply assist with obtaining a Grant of Probate or where we provide a complete solution, including the collection of the assets, the payment of liabilities and legacies and the preparation of an estate account, leading to the final distribution of the mony due.
Grant of Probate Only
Our fees will be £600.00 inc VAT
There will be a fee of £273.00 to pay to the Probate Court.
Copies of the Grant will be £1.50 if obtained at this point.
This service is on the basis that :-
There is a Will which validly appoints at least one executor
There is no inheritance tax payable on the estate ( and no claim is required for thr Residential Nil Rate Property Band to achieve this.) and the estate otherwise qualifies as "an exempt estate"
All information relating to the assets for which the Grant is required is available at the outset.
The Executors deal personally with all matters relating to the estate administration once the Grant of probate issues..
If the estate requires an IHT 400 form because it is not "excepted" then we can assist with the application for a Grant of Probate but we will need to assess the extent of the Estate before setting out the likely costs.
The Full Service
Application for the Grant of Probate, registration of the same with banks , insurance providers, pension providers etc, closure of accounts, dealing with basic tax matters, ppayment of outstanding invoices, payment of Legacies mentioned in the Will, preparing estate accounts and having these approved by you and your beneficiaries, and distributing the monies.
We base our charges for this work on the time that our staff are engaged on the matter.
For a straight forward estate we would estimate between 10 and 15 hours may be spent which is likely to cost between £2400.00 and £3600.00 incVAT
Additional work is based on the cost of time spent - currently approx £240 inc VAT per additional hour
There will be a fee of £155.00 to pay to the Probate Court.
Copies of the Grant will be £1.50 if obtained at this point.
The above assumes that :-
The deceased left a valid Will appointing at least one Executor.
There is no dispute between the beneficiaries, or any claim made against the Estate.
The estate consists of no more than one Property and no more than 5 Bank accounts or policies.
There is no inheritance tax payable on the estate ( and no claim is required for thr Residential Nil Rate Property Band to achieve this.) and the estate otherwise qualifies as "an exempt estate"
What may cause the case to cost more?
If there is no Will and we have to trace the persons who may legally be entitled to administer the estate, or to trace the persons who may be entitled to share in the estate.
If there are more assets than set out above or there are shares held in public companies, overseas companies or if the information regarding the shareholhing is not up to date.
If Inheritance tax is payable and \ or there are potential claims for Business or Agricultural relief, .
If there is a property in the estate, then there will be an additional charge for transferring the ownership, either by selling the property or transferring it to a beneficiary
If additional work is required the cost of this will depend on the time spent by our staff. The cost of this will be approximately £200.00 +vat per hour.
How long will it take ?
This will depend on the complexity of the estate, the number and type of assets included in it and whether or not there is Inheritance Tax to pay.
To Obtain the Grant we would normally estimate approximately 6 weeks depending on how mucgh information is readinly available from the executors and how much has to be obtained
on enquiry, The Probate Court would anticipate returnung a Grant within 4 weeks - at the current time (November 2020), it can take up to 12 weeks.
To deal with the complete administration of the estate may take between 6 months and 12 months depending on the number and type of assets and the Tax status of the estate .
Once we have exact details of the all the assets we can be more accurate
Who will deal with your case?
Your case will be handled by a member of our Private Client Team
