Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets
Our fees for probate work are not fixed: our fees are calculated according to:
- the extent of the work involved
- the time the job is likely to take in hours
- the fee earner’s individual hourly rate (which in each case reflects the seniority of the fee earner engaged by you).
For our part, before work begins (or as soon as possible thereafter) we will do our very best to provide you with a final professional costs limit figure: a reviewable target figure for the entire job that will not be exceeded without a full explanation and your prior written agreement.
Example:
Having reviewed your matter as requested, we anticipate it will take between 5 and 10 hours work to completed chargeable at the fee earner’s hourly rate of £200.00 plus VAT per hour.
Total costs are therefore estimated at between £1,000 and 2,000 (+VAT) (with our costs not exceeding £2,000.00 plus VAT (without your prior written agreement).
The exact cost will therefore depend on the individual circumstances of your matter.
For example, if there is one beneficiary and no property, costs will be lower than if there are multiple beneficiaries, a property and multiple bank accounts.
We will handle the full process for you.
The quote we provide will of course vary depending on whether:
- There is a valid will
- There is more than one property
- There are shareholdings, stocks or bonds
- There are more than 3 bank or building society accounts
- There are other intangible assets
- There is any foreign property or property based in the Isle of Man
- There are more than 4 beneficiaries
- There are disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
- There is inheritance tax payable and whether the executors need to submit a full account to HMRC
- There are any claims made against the estate
Disbursements not included in this fee are:
- Probate application fee of £273 (this is subject to legislative review and change details of which will be provided in due course)
- If any additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost £0.50 per copy (1 per asset usually).
- Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary); none UK bankruptcy searches can cost significantly more depending on the jurisdiction
- Post in The London Gazette – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
- Post in a Local Newspaper – This also helps to protect against unexpected claims.
What Our Fees Include
- Arranging Statutory Notices (includes section 27 advert)
- Identifying beneficiaries: compiling family trees, tracing beneficiaries with the assistance of outside agencies, arranging missing beneficiaries insurance
- Arranging/updating buildings and contents insurance
- Calculating income and chargeable gains arising during the administration and accounting to HMRC
- Providing Memoranda of Appropriation and Income Tax data for charitable beneficiaries
- Where there is a dispute between beneficiaries providing estate data to interested parties and liaising with them by prior agreement
- Arranging Red Book Valuations of Land and Property as required by HMRC
- Arranging interim distributions of entitlement
- Arranging payment of legacies
- Obtaining approval of/finalising estate accounts
- Arranging issue of cheques or bank transfers of entitlements on completion of the administration
- Liaising with Coroners and attending inquest hearings where required
- Supervising civil claims begun by the Deceased in their lifetime to their appropriate conclusion
Potential additional costs
Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included within any quote provided by the probate department but a separate quote will be supplied by the residential or commercial conveyancing departments on request.
How long will this take?
We will attempt to provide you with a time estimate based on your matter and our experience of similar matters.
Wherever possible we will aim to give you an estimate of timescales broken down into the various stages of the transaction too:
Example:
On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 3-6 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 4-6 weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 6-8 weeks. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 4-6 weeks.
