Complete Estate Probate Service
Thank you for looking at Christopher Davidson Solicitors probate services. When someone dies, somebody has to deal with their “estate” and this process is called Probate. A person’s estate is considered to be made up of the money, property and any possessions they had at the time of their death. The process of Probate involves collecting any money that is owed, settling any debts due (including outstanding taxes) and dividing the estate amongst the respective beneficiaries.
The fees involved in a probate matter can vary and this will depend on the individual circumstances involved. As a firm we offer two different services in respect of Probate
- Grant only service where we obtain the Grant of Representation for you to administer the estate or
- Complete Estate Administration Service whereby we deal with all aspect of the Probate process.
Please see below for your grant only service, for our grant only service please click here.
Complete Estate Administration Service which would include;
- Obtaining the death certificate either from the person who registered the death – or registering the death on your behalf if appropriate
- Locating the original Will or establishing who is entitled to the estate under the Intestacy Rules if there is no Will.
- Checking whether there are any funeral arrangements these may be mentioned in the Will.
- Establishing whether the estate is solvent
- Obtaining passbooks, share certificates, insurance policies etc
- Locating the Deeds to any properties
- Securing any specific gifts left in the Will
- Discovering all the financial details of the estate, that is the assets and debts and any other liabilities. Also calculate whether taxes may be payable, whether Inheritance Tax, Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax
- Establishing whether Transferable tax allowances are available for Inheritance Tax purposes.
- Notifying all interested parties that we are dealing with the administration of the estate – asset holders, pension providers, utilities, insurers, mortgage company etc.
- Obtaining probate valuations of all assets and debts
- Complete the HM Revenue and Customs Inheritance Tax Forms as appropriate and preparing the papers leading to the application for a Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration
- If the estate is liable for Inheritance Tax arranging the payment of the same from the estate funds.
- Obtaining the Grant of Probate
- Collecting in the assets
- Discharging the liabilities, filing tax returns and settling tax liabilities
- Paying the pecuniary legacies and distributing specific gifts
- Preparing estate accounts
- Distributing the estate to the residuary beneficiaries and
- Dealing with any other aspects of the administration as they rise.
Costs
Our fees for the Complete Estate Administration Service are charged on a time spent basis and the hourly rates would range from £200-250 an hour plus VAT (charged at a rate of 20%). Every case is different but in the majority of cases the legal fees for a standard estate administration will range between £1,500.00 to £15,000.00 plus VAT (charged at a rate of 20%) and disbursements. There are instances where the costs could be much higher than this range, but for an average estate valued at £300,000.00 consisting of a Property, a couple of bank accounts and other assets with 2/3 beneficiaries and no complications the likely costs will be as follows to completely administer the estate:-
| Amount | VAT | Total | |
| Our Legal Fees | £3,000.00 | £600.00 | £3600.00 |
Ultimately the fees for every estate will vary and be dependent upon the individual circumstances of the matter and amount of fees will depend on a wide range of issues such as the number of beneficiaries , number of gifts, whether the estate includes any property, how much the estate is worth and in particular where it is taxable. The fees will also typically increase, depending on whether there are multiple bank accounts, shares and based on the number and value of any property.
As soon as it is practical you would be given an estimate specific to your matter to deal with the administration of the estate for approval.
If at any time during the course of the matter it looks likely that the costs will exceed the estimate we provide for any reason, we would let you know as soon as possible and discuss the extra costs at that point.
Disbursements
Disbursements are case dependent so not all of the disbursements listed below will be necessary in each matter.
|
Probate fee |
£300 | |
|
Copy Grant |
£.1.50 | |
Fee for swearing Oath for Probate (Generally speaking it is no longer necessary to swear an Oath for Probate and this would now be dealt with via a statement of Truth) |
No Will |
£5 per administrator |
|
Will |
£7 per executor | |
|
Will and 1 Codicil |
£9 per executor | |
|
Unclaimed asset search |
Circa £160 | |
|
Section 27 Trustees Act notice fee |
£150-£200 | |
|
Bankruptcy search |
£2.40 per person | |
|
Land Registry Search fees |
£6 per property. | |
Timescales
On average, a complete administration for the typical estate will take between 6 – 15 months. It can however take signifcantly longer depending on the circumstances surrounding the estate. Generally, the time taken to obtain the Grant of Probate will take between 2 – 4 months, followed by the collection of assets and distribution of the assets which can take between 4 -12 months. This range takes into account handling everything from straightforward estate through to more complex estates.
At the outset of the matter we would provide a likely timescale based on the specific aspects of your matter.
Inheritance Tax
In addition to the cost of the estate administration, the estate may be liable for Inheritance Tax and there are various factors that will affect any Inheritance Tax due on an estate, including the size of the estate, any measures that were put in place by the deceased to limit the estates tax liability and who you leave your estate to.
We consequently do not believe that it would be sensible to attempt to provide an estimate of any Inheritance Tax that may be payable on individual estates on our website. As part of our service we would advise you of the Tax liability for your specific matter.
If you would like to be able to calculate what Inheritance Tax may be due there is a calculator on the HMRC website, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hmrc-tools-and-calculators#inheritance-tax-and-bereavement
Additional Costs
The costs for Complete Estate Administrations Service do not include
- The Conveyancing costs in relation to the selling or transferring any property in the Estate
- Specific tax advice in respect of your matter
- Third Party costs such as valuation fees for Property, shares and investments
- Advice in respect of the initial set up and/or day to day running of any Trust arrangements in the Will
- The costs of dealing with any dispute over the terms of the Will/between the beneficiaries or against the Estate
- The costs of bringing actions on behalf of the estate i.e. for repossession of property occupied by third parties
This list is not exhaustive and we would give you a specific quote for any additional services that are required as and when it is appropriate to do so.
Key Milestones
With every transaction there are key milestones, which we would guide you through. The key milestones may vary according to individual circumstances in each matter. They may be as follows:
- Collecting in all of the beneficiaries details and asset information
- Applying for Grant of Probate
- Obtaining Grant of Probate
- Collecting funds ready for distribution
- Settling liabilities
- Producing Estate accounts
- Distributing funds
Why Us
We have a dedicated Probate team led by Steven Felts who is a Solicitor and a member of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) and the Private Client section of the Law Society who can assist you with every aspect of the probate process.
We are aware that administering an estate comes at a time of grief and high emotion, and we aim to reduce the administrative burden to you as much as possible whilst advising sensitively on key decisions which need to be made when managing an estate. From the outset we aim to give you a clear time frame of how long the matter should take and will keep you and any beneficiaries advised throughout as appropriate.
get a quote
For a free, no obligation quote please telephone us on 01242 581481 or make an enquiry using the button below.