SRA transparency rules cost & service

Probate: range of costs (with fixed fee for additional work) and fixed fee

Our Wills and Probate department team is headed up by Belinda Bramhall who specialises in will writing tailored to a client’s individual needs as well as inheritance and tax planning and probate issues ranging for the straight forward to those more complex estates involving trusts.

Belinda is assisted by a trainee solicitor, currently Szymon Psiuk.

The work of the Wills and Probate Team also benefits from supervision and mentoring by an experienced SRA accredited practitioner and trainer.

Full administration of the estate: applying for the grant of probate/letters of administration, collecting and distributing the assets

Our total charges for dealing with the administration of an estate are based on the time spent in dealing with your matter: we do not charge a percentage of the value of the estate.

This will include attendances upon you and perhaps others, time spent travelling and waiting, considering, preparing and working on papers and correspondence and making and receiving telephone calls. This will apply until or unless an alternative fee arrangement has been agreed and confirmed in writing by us. Letters (including emails) of a routine nature and telephone calls of a routine nature, made and received, will be charged as units of one tenth of an hour. Other letters and calls will be charged on the basis of the time spent.

Our hourly rates are as follows:

• Trainee/paralegal – £220 plus VAT (£264)
• Solicitor – £250 plus VAT (£300)
• Associate Solicitor – £270 plus VAT (£324)
• Head of Department – £290 plus VAT (£348)
• Member Partner – £320 plus VAT (£384)

Average fees for dealing with the full administration of an estate are generally in the region of between 1% and 3% of the gross estate value. Disbursements and VAT on our fees are additional to our fees. All VAT is charged at 20%.

Fee estimates are available.

Key stages and timescales

The time it takes to administer an estate can vary dramatically and generally depends on the complexity of the deceased’s affairs. Factors which affect the time it will take to administer the estate are:

• Whether the estate is taxable
• The number and variety of assets help e.g. multiple accounts with different banks, numerous share holdings in different companies;
• Whether there are any challenges to an estate e.g. a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975

The administration of most estates would usually be completed within around 8 to 12 months. Although we always strive to bring the administration period to an end as quickly as possible we rely heavily on the organisations we have to liaise with such as HMRC or banking institutions dealing with us in a timely fashion.
When we meet with you and know the details of the estate we are generally able to give you a clearer indication of the likely timescale involved in your case.

For the full administration of an estate all of the key stages listed below must be completed. Some stages overlap; some are dependent on the completion of prior stages before they can begin. Depending on the complexity of the estate, full administration can take as little as three months or extend beyond 12 months; the sale of a probate property can contribute to delays, as the duration of the process is unpredictable; the involvement of HMRC can also contribute to significant delays.

What is not included:

• Dealing with any challenges to the estate
• Dealing with any disputes between beneficiaries
• The costs associated with the sale of any property
• Dealing with any property held outside of the England and Wales
• Locating missing beneficiaries
• Tracing unknown assets
• Dealing with any trusts in which the deceased was involved
• DWP enquiries

Disbursements

These 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.

VAT may or may not be payable on disbursements depending on the tax status of the service provider.

Fixed fee probate: obtaining the grant only

Probate

We can help you through this difficult process by obtaining the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration (if there isn’t a Will) on your behalf. We will ask you to complete a simple questionnaire so that we have the necessary information to complete the application on your behalf.

How much does this service cost?

TOTAL: fixed fee of £1200 (incl. VAT). This includes: registering the online application with HMCTS, preparing the Legal Statement for the Personal Representatives to sign, submitting the online application, submitting the hard copy documents to HMCTS and obtaining the grant.

Breakdown of Costs

Legal fees £1000 + VAT £200 Total £1200

Disburstments

• Probate Registry fee £300 + £16 per additional copy of the Grant required if the estate is over 5,000.
• There is no fee if the estate is £5,000 or less
• You may be able to get help to pay the probate fee if you have a low income or are on certain benefits

VAT is not charged on court fees.
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.

As part of our fixed fee we will:

• Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor or chartered fellow of the institute of legal executives to work on your matter
• Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators
• Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
• Complete the online Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms (if applicable)
• Obtain the Probate and send sealed copies to you

Typically, it takes HMCTS up to 16 weeks to issue the Grant from the date on which they receive the application. If a paper application has to be made it can take them substantially longer to deal with this.

If Form IHT400 is required then we will provide you with an estimate of our costs based on the anticipated time that will be spent on the matter.

Need more information?

If you require more information please contact us on 0116 201 8566 or email us.