​WILLS

Our fees start at £300 plus VAT for a single Will and £500 plus VAT for a pair of Wills. VAT is charged at 20%.

If you require a more complicated arrangement, such as incorporating Trusts then an estimate can be provided.

Our Wills are prepared by our Private Client team.

LASTING POWER OF ATTORNEY

Our fees for Lasting Powers of Attorney are as follows:-

  • £395 plus VAT – one document
  • £700 plus VAT – two documents
  • £1,200 plus VAT – four documents

There is a fee of £82 payable to the Office of Public Guardian (subject to waivers on financial grounds) for each LPA that is registered.

All work will be undertaken by our Private Client team.

ESTATE ADMINISTRATION

We offer two main types of service for probate matters:

Full Administration

This is a full service where all the work involved is undertaken by this firm. This includes:-

  • ascertaining assets and liabilities
  • obtaining valuations as at the date of death
  • preparing the relevant Inheritance Tax forms
  • obtaining a reference number for taxable estates
  • collecting in & encashing assets
  • ascertaining any relevant lifetime gifts which may increase the Inheritance Tax liability
  • lodging the application for the Grant of Representation
  • dealing with outstanding income tax returns (or liaising with accountants already acting)
  • settling liabilities
  • corresponding with the Executors and beneficiaries
  • preparing final accounts for the approval of the Personal Representatives
  • arranging payments to beneficiaries

Once details of the estate have been ascertained we can provide you with an estimate of our fees. A minimum fee of £2,000 + VAT applies to all full administration matters.

Hourly rate

Our fees will be calculated on a time basis at the fee-earner’s hourly rate.

We would estimate that an average simple estate would cost between £2,500 and £4,500 + VAT.

Our service as set out above will not include dealing with property sales, which will be charged for separately.  If litigation arises relating to the estate this will not be covered in the above guide. If the estate is insolvent, please advise so that we can provide a guide as to our charges and whether the estate will pay our fees or if another source will be required.

Grant only

This is where we will assist you to obtain a Grant which will enable you to carry out the administration of the estate.  We will prepare the application for the Grant of Probate (if there is a Will) or Letters of Administration (intestacy). We would require all valuations to be provided to us beforehand.

Our fee for this service starts from £950 + VAT for simple matters. For more complex matters involving IHT400 tax forms, our fees will start at £1,500 + VAT.

Third party payments

There will also be some third-party payments, which typically would be as follows:

  • The probate court fee payable to HMCTS to issue the grant will be £273 plus £1.50 per copy grant. Please note the fees due to HMCTS are reviewed so they could vary.
  • Office copy entries for a property may be required, which cost £3 plus VAT and bankruptcy searches are undertaken on beneficiaries at a cost of £2 each plus VAT.
  • Trustee Act advertisements may be needed in some cases, which would usually cost about £200.

In respect of a chargeable estate, we would suggest that a surveyor might be employed to provide a valuation as at the date of death.

All work will be undertaken by Karen Powell, Head of Private Client, Serena Elliott, Consultant Solicitor and two assistants, Lisa Foley and Sarah Church.

TIME SCALE

Grant only

The preparation of the application for the grant of representation will depend upon the circumstances of each estate, such as whether we are writing to the authorities to obtain the information required, or whether this is being provided to us by the client.

The Probate Registry are at present taking up to 16 weeks to issue the Grant from the date the application is submitted. If it is a taxable estate, then the timescale will be longer as it is required to wait 20 working days from the delivery of the Inheritance Tax Account to H M Revenue & Customs, before application can then be made for the Grant. This is to allow HMRC time to process the Inheritance Tax Account and send the receipt to the Probate Registry.

Full administration

This will typically be finalised within 6 to 9 months, however, timeframes vary largely and depend on the complexity of the estate, and other aspects such as whether there is a property in the estate which is required to be sold, or for example, any foreign aspects to be dealt with.