PROBATE COSTS

What does it cost for you to help me obtain a grant of probate and administer the estate?

The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter and the value of the estate. 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 or several properties and multiple bank accounts and multiple shareholdings and many other financial assets and liabilities e.g life policies and other investments numerous credit cards and loans and lifetime gifts that have to be checked to see if their value has to be included in the estate then the costs will be at the higher end. We give details of our costs and charges in our engagement and terms of business letter and on our website.

We anticipate the work may take between 5 and 50 hours depending on the simplicity or complexity and value of the estate and the time needed to be spent by our legal experts dealing with the matter. This is affected by the number of beneficiaries and the number of assets and liabilities in the estate and whether the estate is taxable to Inheritance Tax. Further information about Inheritance Tax: https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax.

Aileen Francis a solicitor who is also a Partner in the firm has an hourly rate of £380 plus vat at a rate of 20% and Debbie Bellini a solicitor who is not a partner in the firm has an hourly rate of £310 plus vat at a rate of 20%. Melissa Sear a Chartered Legal Executive who is a partner in the firm has an hourly rate of £345 plus vat at a rate of 20% and a Jessica Brown a Chartered Legal Executive who is not a Partner in the firm has an hourly rate of £310 plus vat at a rate of 20%. Our hourly rate are reviewed on 2nd January each year.

Our charges are always calculated according to the hours ie time spent by the lawyers dealing with your matter and a value element is added to the chargeable hours. We see this as a fair and traditional method of charging. We do not at present offer a fixed fee price service in Probate cases.

The value element we add to our charges reflects the responsibility involved and the weight of the matter and is based on a percentage of the value of the assets in the estate. There is a value element added in respect of residential property and a value element added in respect of the gross value of the estate less the value of the residential property.

Value element on residential property

This value element is a percentage which is 0.5% value element on the value of residential property but if the Partners in the firm are also the executors or administrators of the estate this value element on residential property is increased to ¾%.

For example:- if the Partners in the firm are not executors or administrators of the estate and the residential property was valued at £300,000 a value element of 0.5% = £1,500 plus vat at 20% would be added to the chargeable hours ie a total of £1,800. If the Partners in the firm were executors/administrators of the estate the value element would be ¾% on the value of residential property and if the property was valued at £300,000 a value element of £2,250 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £450 would be added ie a total of £2,700.

Value element on the gross estate value less the value of residential property

There is also another value element added of 1% on the gross value of the estate after deduction of the value of residential property. This means if the whole estate including residential property was valued at £500,000 and the residential property valued at £300,000 this value element would be added to the value of the gross estate less the value of the residential property (ie £500,000 – £300,000 = £200,000 ) So the 1% value element would charged on £200,000 ie £2,000 plus vat at 20% of £400 ie a total of £2,400 would be added. The 1% value element is increased to 1.5% where the Partners in the firm are acting as executors/administrators. This would mean on a value of £200,000 x 1.5% = £3,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £600 ie a total of £3,600.

It is difficult at the beginning of the administration of most Estates to say how much work will be involved, and therefore what our final charges will be. We charge on a time basis at the hourly rate of the lawyer working on your matter plus vat at a current rate of 20% we add the value elements plus vat at a current rate of 20% It depends on how much time is spent on the matter. However, we would not expect our total charges (ie the hours charged together with the value elements) to exceed 3% of the gross value of the estate with vat at 20% being added to the hours charged and the value elements.

Examples based on charges of 3% plus vat at a rate of 20%-

On a gross estate valued at £1,000,000 then 3% would be £30,000 so we would not expect our total charges to exceed £30,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% and the vat added to this at a rate of 20% is £6,000 ie a total of £36,000 but the usual range of total costs here are between £20,000 plus vat at 20% of £4,000 ie £24,000 and £30,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £6,000 ie £36,000.

On a gross estate valued at £800,000 then 3% would be £24,000 so we would not expect our total charges to exceed £24,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% and the vat added to this at a rate of 20% is £4,800 ie a total of £28,800 but the usual range of total costs here are between £15,000 plus vat at 20% of £3,000 ie £18,000 and £24,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £4,800 ie £28,800.

On a gross estate valued at £500,000 then 3% would be £15,000 so we would not expect our total charges to exceed £15,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% and the vat added to this at a rate of 20% is £3,000 ie a total of £18,000 but the usual range of total costs here are between £12,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £2,400 ie £14,400 to £15,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £3,000 ie £18,000.

On a gross estate valued at £300,000 then 3% would be £9,000 so we would not expect our total charges to exceed £9,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £1,800 ie a total of £10,800 but the usual range of costs here are between £6,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £1,200 ie £7,200 and £9,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £1,800 ie .£10,800.

On a gross estate valued at £200,000 then 3% would be £6,000 so we would not expect our total charges to exceed £6,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £1,200 ie a total of £7,200 but the usual range of costs here are between £4,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £800 ie £4,800 and £6,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £1,200 ie £7,200.

On a gross estate valued at £100,000 then 3% would be £3,000 so we would not expect our total charges to exceed £3,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% and the vat added to this at a rate of 20% is £600 ie a total of £3,600 but our usual range of costs here are between £2,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £400 ie £2,400 and £3,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £600 ie £3,600.

On a gross estate valued at £50,000 then 3% would be £1,500 so we would not expect our total charges to exceed £1,500 plus vat at a rate of 20% and the vat added to this at a rate of 20% is £300 ie a total of £1,800 but our usual range of costs here are between £1,000 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £200 ie £1,200 and £1,500 plus vat at a rate of 20% of £300 ie £1,800.

Application For Grant – Our Fixed Fee

If you do not want to instruct us to deal with the full administration of the estate for you but just want us to apply for the grant for you we do offer a fixed fee. This is for obtaining the grant only.

We only offer this fixed fee in estates where there is no Inheritance Tax payable and the gross value for Inheritance Tax purposes is £1,000,000 or less.  

The fixed fee is calculated by reference to the gross value of the estate. For gross estates valued up to £250,000 the fee is £1,500 plus vat at 20%. For gross estates valued over £250,000 but less than £500,000 the fee is £2,500 plus vat at 20% and for gross estates valued at over £500,000 but less than £1,000,000 the fee is £5,000 plus vat at 20%.We will make the application for the grant based on the information you give us. If we need to make any further enquiries or any investigations to ascertain the information needed there will be an additional charge which we will advise you about if applicable.

In addition to our charges there may be other specific charges :-

SPECIFIC CHARGES

Probate Court fees £300 (no vat is added) https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate/fees there is no fee if the estate is valued less than £5,000.

Bankruptcy -only Land Charges searches £2.00 per name (not subject to vat) if UK resident. But if living abroad the bankruptcy search costs in the region of £80 plus vat at a rate of 20%.

Trustee Act Notices in London Gazette and Local Newspaper estimated cost £350 plus vat at a rate of 20%.

Land Registry fees for up to date official copies of title to a property £6.00 plus vat at a rate of 20%.

ID checking fees £17.63 per person (there is no vat on these fees) for clients and beneficiaries if we have not been able to see them with their ID documents at our office or they have not supplied suitable acceptable evidence of ID in order for us to comply with requirements on ID re AML (Anti Money Laundering).

An Asset search fee to search for missing assets estimated fees £300 plus vat at a rate of 20%.

Accountants’ fees estimated at £300-£1,000 plus vat at a rate of 20%.

Chartered Surveyor’s fees estimated at £500-£1,000 to value freehold or leasehold property as at date of death which would be subject to vat at 20%.

Auctioneeer valuer’s fees to value household and personal goods of the deceased as at the date of death estimated at £300 to £800 which would be subject to vat at a rate of 20%.

Sealed copy grant of probate £1.50 per copy.

PLEASE NOTE: The costs and charges for dealing with obtaining the grant of probate and administering the estate do not include a contested ie disputed estate or an estate with foreign assets. It does not include any conveyancing costs in connection with the sale or transfer of any of the deceased’s properties and does not include costs in respect of tracing missing beneficiaries or obtaining insurance cover in respect of missing beneficiaries or a missing Will. It also does not include the costs of any Deed of Variation of the estate.