Probate Fees

Our Probate Fees

Obtaining the grant of representation where a standard inheritance tax return is required – Our Costs £1695.00 plus VAT (£339.00) plus the court fee £300.00 (plus an additional £1.50 per additional copy of the grant requested). Usually not more than five additional copies are requested/required therefore the total court fee is not likely to exceed £304.50 and on this basis the total fixed costs including disbursements will therefore be typically £2800.00
Obtaining the grant of representation where a full inheritance tax return is required – Our costs £2,695.00 plus VAT (£539.60) plus the court fee £300.00 (plus an additional £1.50 per additional copy of the grant requested). Usually not more than five additional copies are requested/required therefore the total court fee is not likely to exceed £304.50. The total fixed costs including disbursements will therefore be typically £3800.00
Winding up an estate – the charges relating to such work are assessed on a case by case basis as all estates differ, however our charges will usually be a fixed fee ranging from 3.5% up to 5% of the net estate value (the value of the estate at the date of death, after all debts and liabilities (excluding Inheritance Tax) associated with the estate have been settled) depending on the complexity of the estate plus VAT plus the court fee £300.00 (plus an additional £1.50 per additional copy of the grant requested). Usually not more than five additional copies are requested/required therefore the total court fee is not likely to exceed £304.50. For example;
- If an estate had a net value of £150,000.00 and was charged at 3.5% the fixed fee in connection with the same would be £5250.00 plus VAT (£1050.00) plus the court fee (£304.50) excluding disbursements would typically be cost of £6604.50 inc VAT.
- If an estate had a net value of £150,000.00 and was charged at 4% the fixed fee in connection with the same would be £6000.00 plus VAT (£1200.00) plus the court fee (£304.50) excluding disbursements would typically be cost of £7504.50 inc VAT.

However please note…

– We estimate 80% of cases dealt with under option three usually attract a fixed fee of 4% of the net estate.

– Should a property, or properties need to be sold when dealing with an estate, or after obtaining a grant of representation a separate cost quote will be provided by our conveyancing department.

– There may be additional fees such as asset searches, statutory notices and property valuation fees and other third party professional charges which do not apply to every case and will be quoted on a case by case basis if applicable.

Simple Estates

For a simplest estate where there is a will and a gross value is less than £325,000 comprising for example, a property and a bank account, we can offer a fix fee of £1695.00 plus VAT + disbursements to obtain probate to alone. This assumes the Executors can provide us with a date of death and valuation of all assets and a list of liabilities. The fee includes receiving details and valuation of assets and liabilities, drafting a statement of truth to record these, preparing an IHT 205 form, lodging the necessary papers with the court and receiving the grant probate; The fix fee does not include the cost of collecting distributing state . This aspect of the administering the estate is calculate on a time-spent basis on £200 per hour plus VAT.

Complex Estates

We do not offer fixed fee for obtaining Grant of Letters of Administration or Grant of Probate when a gross value of estate exceeds £325,000 . This is because an estate of this tends to consist of more assets and consequently requires additional work to be carried out. Assistance from you, for example, obtaining the date of death valuations for all assets, will affect them amount of time spent on the matter which will be reflecting our cost.

Our work will include:

Providing you with a dedicate experience probate solicitor all legal executive to work on your matter.
Identifying the legal appointed executor administrator and beneficiaries.
Obtaining the relevant documents required to apply to court for probate.
Completing the probate application forms in the submitting the relevant paperwork to HM Revenue & Customs.
Arranging to pay any inheritance tax due.
Drafting a statement of truth.
Submitting the application of court of probate on your behalf.
Liaising with the beneficiaries.
Preparing a state accounts for approval by the executors (and any residuary beneficiaries).
Calculating any income tax and capital gains and tax liabilities accrued during the administration.
Attaining tax clearance from HM Revenue & Customs.
Collecting distributing all assets of the estate.

Disbursements

Probate application £304.50 ( which includes the extra grants at £1.50 each) no VAT;
Swearing of Oaths £7.00 no VAT;
Bankruptcy searches £2.00 no vat
Notice to London Gazette £92.00 + VAT
Asset Search £165.00 + VAT;
Wills search £195.00 + VAT;
Office copied £3.00 no VAT;
ID check at £16.67 + VAT

Timescales

In cases where we only obtain the grant of representation we would estimate this usually takes up to ten weeks unless is exceptional circumstances. However , we are in hands of the Probate Registry whose timescales vary and which have been known to be up to five months long but we will use our best endeavours to obtain the grant as is possible.

Where we deal with the whole estate we give a time estimate of six to eighteen months for completion. However this is subject to the complexity of each matter and we will discuss that with you at the outset.

People carrying out your work

Charlie Kirk, our Head of Probate will carry out your matter and he is assisted by Sophie Beaty supervised by Julia Gibbons.

VAT is charged at the current published rate of 20% & electronic money transfers are charged at £35.00 + vat for each transaction.