Probate - pricing and service information

No estate is exactly the same and our fees will reflect the complexity of the deceased's affairs. For example, estates comprised of simple assets with a small number of beneficiaries will cost less to administer than estates including complex, overseas or business assets, with multiple beneficiaries or establishing will trusts. Because of this it is not practicable for us to provide a figure for the total cost of us helping you until we have details of the estate to be administered.  We have instead provided our hourly rates and a likely range of costs for estate administration cases in order to give you an indication of cost.

Hourly rates

Clients are charged on the basis of our time, rather than the value of the estate.

Our hourly rate varies depending on the member of staff dealing with your matter and their location. Our lowest hourly rate is £190 excluding VAT and our highest hourly rate is £790 excluding VAT. We make sure the work is carried out by someone of the appropriate level and seniority depending on the complexity of your case. We will discuss this with you when you instruct us and ensure it is in line with the nature of the service you wish us to provide and the individual circumstances of your matter.

Examples of our fees

Costs are provided for your general guidance only and these should not be interpreted as a fixed fee or binding quote.

Straightforward estate administration – fees start from £12,500 excluding VAT.

A straightforward estate administration assumes that the estate includes only one residential property and up to five bank or national savings accounts.  It assumes that the deceased did not hold any business or trust interests, or overseas assets.  It also assumes that the estate is not insolvent or contested. It assumes that the deceased left a valid Will which covers all the assets of the estate, and that the deceased was domiciled and resident in the UK during their lifetime.

Complex estate administration – fees may exceed £50,000 excluding VAT.

It is rare that a matter will exceed this amount save for those with an international element, business assets or contested issues.

We would, in any event, discuss the assets and devolution of the estate with you and provide you with a written estimate and description of the services we will need to provide in order to ensure the effective administration of the estate.

Examples of factors that could make a case more complex and increase the cost include:

• A requirement to prepare a full inheritance tax return.
• The availability of additional inheritance tax nil rate band/s, from a late spouse of the deceased, or where one or more "residence nil rate bands" may be available.
• A substantial number of family or charity beneficiaries.
• Business or agricultural assets.
• Overseas assets or interests.
• Multiple properties, accounts, or investments.
• Any significant liabilities/mortgages, in particular if the estate may be insolvent, or if the assets of the estate may not be sufficient for the Will to take effect as intended.
• The deceased having held an interest in one or more trusts.
• Lifetime gifts having been made within the "regular gifts out of income exemption".
• Where the deceased gave something away but still benefitted from it (a "gift with a reservation of benefit").
• Any tax issues outstanding from the deceased's lifetime.
• Any contentious issues in existence or arising.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Typical disbursements for simple estates will include:

• Probate registry fee - £273 plus £1.50 per additional copy of the grant of probate (£15 to £30).
• Statutory advertisements (this helps to protect against unknown creditors) - £250 to £300 (approx.).
• Land Registry title copy (per property) - £3.
• Valuation fees – the cost will depend on the value and nature of the property.

All of the disbursement costs listed are inclusive of VAT.

Inheritance tax, capital gains tax and income tax may be payable from the estate, plus any taxes that may be outstanding from the deceased's lifetime.

VAT

VAT is charged at 20%.

Key stages

The stages set out below are an indication of the services you can expect to be included in a simple estates matter.

• A review of the will and of the deceased's family connections to advise you on the proper distribution of the estate.
• Liaising with banks, asset managers, accountants, valuers and other third parties to ascertain the value of the estate's assets and liabilities.
• Advice on inheritance tax, including calculating any inheritance tax due on the estate and exemptions and reliefs that may reduce this.
• Arranging the submission of advertisements for creditors of the estate.
• Preparing and submitting the application to the Probate Registry.
• Gathering in the estate assets and paying outstanding liabilities.
• Liaising with accountants to organise the submission of lifetime and estate tax returns.
• Preparing simple estate accounts.
• Paying legacies and distributing the remaining assets in accordance with the deceased's wishes.

Other stages – not included in the fee estimate

• Conveyancing work relating to the sale or transfer of any property.
• Any deed of variation required to change the effect of the deceased's Will or of the intestacy rules (which apply when the deceased did not leave a valid Will applying to their whole estate).
• Registration of the estate or of any trusts that may arise on HMRC's trust register.
• Advice on tax issues other than UK inheritance tax, and the preparation of any returns due to HMRC or to any other regulatory authority.
• Advising as to the options in respect of any trust which may be created by the Will, and preparing any deeds which may be needed to restructure the trust, or to bring it to an end.
• Advice on any contentious issues which may arise.

Timescales

Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 4 to 8 months (although this is dependant in particular on how long the probate registry take to process the grant application). Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 6 to 8 weeks. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes around 4 to 8 weeks. (The time taken to complete the estate administration may depend on how long HMRC take to respond to any tax returns which have been submitted).

Our lawyers

Details of the lawyers who undertake and supervise this work can be found below.