Fees For Wills & Probate Services

Probate: Range of costs (with fixed fee for additional work) and fixed fee

Probate

We offer services in preparing and making the application for Probate to the HM Courts and Tribunals and dealing with the administration of the estate once the Grant of Probate has been issued.

Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets

We anticipate this will take at least 15 hours work at £180 per hour plus VAT. The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. 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 and multiple bank accounts, costs will be at the higher end.

We will handle the full process for you. This quote is for estates where:

• There is a valid will
• There is no more than one property
• There are no more than 3 bank or building society accounts
• There are no other intangible assets
• There are 2-6 beneficiaries
• There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
• There is no inheritance tax payable and the executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC
• There are no claims made against the estate

Probate Service	Our Fee	VAT	Disbursements
Full Grant application including filing of tax forms, if required, and administration of the estate	1% net estate value plus £180.00 per hour for additional unanticipated work	20% of final fee charged	£300.00 Probate application fee  £1.50 per extra copy Grant of Probate required
Full Executorship, which includes full grant application, filing of tax forms if required, administration of the estate and Evans & Jones acting as Executors	1.5% net estate value plus £180.00 per hour for additional unanticipated work	20% of final fee charged	£300.00 Probate application fee  £1.50 per extra copy Grant of Probate required
Full administration of estate (intestacy)	1.5% net estate value plus £180.00 per hour for additional unanticipated work	20% of final fee charged	£300.00 Probate application fee  £1.50 per extra copy Letters of Administration  required

Please note additional unanticipated work would include the following:

• If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there is likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.
• If any additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost £1.50 (1 per asset usually).
• Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included.
• The cost of placing adverts in the London Gazette and a local paper to confirm the death to allow any creditors of the estate to make a claim for any debts due.

Disbursements additional to this fee:

• £7 Swearing of the oath (per executor)
• Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary)
• £90 Post in The London Gazette – Protects against unexpected claims from
  unknown creditors.
• £75 Post in a Local Newspaper – This also helps to protect against unexpected
  claims.

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

Potential additional costs

• If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and
  bonds) there is likely to be additional costs that could range
  significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We
  can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.
• If any additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost £1 (1 per
  asset usually).
• Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included.

Timescales

We estimate that the typical timescale to obtain a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration and settle an estate is approximately 9 – 12 months.

We summarise the key stages of a standard probate application are as follows once we have been instructed by the Executors or family of the deceased to deal with the estate:-

• Ensure that the death of the person has been registered and obtain a copy of the death certificate and any Will for the deceased from you. Inform the government about the death of the person.
  
  
• Obtain details of all assets and liabilities for the deceased, including property, bank accounts, Pensions, ISAs, stocks & shares, Premium Bonds, mortgages, and any other debts to accurately ascertain the value of the estate. Discuss with you the estimated value of the estate and ascertain whether it is believed there is any inheritance tax to be paid. If there is any inheritance tax to be paid, this must be done within 6 months of the date of death.

• Write to all financial institutions and other bodies to confirm the death, including HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions, and to provide a copy of the death certificate and obtain correct valuations of all assets and full details of any sums owing to any parties.

• Place adverts in the London Gazette and a local paper to confirm the death to allow any creditors of the estate to make a claim for any debts due. The adverts have a 2 month notice period for creditors to make any claim.

• Once correct valuations of all assets and liabilities have been obtained, complete the relevant Inheritance Tax forms with details of deceased’s assets and liabilities, and obtain approval of the same from you. Finalise the Inheritance Tax position with HMRC (i.e. whether there is Inheritance Tax to pay or not).

• Complete all documentation necessary for the court application, including checking the validity of the Will or accurately applying the rules of intestacy where no valid Will exists. Submit the application for probate to the Probate Registry along with payment of the probate court fee. Issue of the Grant by the Court usually takes approximately 16 weeks.

• Once the Grant of Probate has been received a copy is sent to all financial institutions to allow closure of all accounts and for funds to be paid to us on behalf of the Executors.

• Once all accounts etc have been closed and monies received, we prepare the estate and cash accounts detailing all monies received and paid out in the estate and send these to you for approval.

• Once the accounts have been approved, we can finalise the legal, tax and administration work and distribute the estate to the beneficiaries. This will complete the probate process.

Costs can be reduced considerably if family members are prepared to help with the non-legal tasks such as clearing personal items, meeting with estate agents and transferring utilities. These aspects can often be time-consuming but do not usually require our expertise.

Before undertaking any work, we will meet with you to review the Will and discuss the estate. We will then give you a fees estimate – which is a range of costs that we believe we could incur when dealing with the estate. We will also give you a fixed fee alternative.

If you chose a fixed fee option you’ll know exactly how much the estate administration will cost