probate

We charge for all of our estate administration services on time spent at the hourly rates of the team members involved. We do not charge fixed percentages of the estate. This means is that we can tailor our services specifically to the service you require, and you only pay for the work which is actually carried out on your behalf. We use the same pricing model whether the executors are individuals or partners of this firm.

When an individual makes a Will, executors are appointed to administer their estate and ensure the estate passes to the beneficiaries of the Will. This is often an onerous process and many executors choose to use the services of professionals to assist them in meeting their obligations. Individuals often choose professionals to act as executors if they believe the task would be too much for their family to deal with.

The average timescales vary depending on the complexity of the application but a typical and straightforward estate will take 3-6 months to obtain the Grant of Representation, collecting and distributing the assets will usually take a further 3-6 months.

We anticipate that the usual timescale is normally 6 to 12 months but there are a number of factors which affect both overall cost and timescale for the administration of the estate. Delays can arise if the will is lost or needs to be located, intestacy (death without a will) can further complicate matters, the size of the estate ie whether or not inheritance tax is payable and the nature and number of assets comprised in the estate can also have an impact.

For very simple UK estates with a Valid Will, fewer than 5 beneficiaries, assets of less than £150,000 consisting of a residential property and less than 5 bank accounts we would estimate our time to begin at 10 to 15 hours work and our costs to be in the region of £3,000 – £5,000 plus VAT and disbursements.

Simple UK estate over £150,000 to £1 million and no inheritance tax to pay, few beneficiaries, small number of UK assets including one residential property we would anticipate costs of approximately £5,000 – £10,000 plus VAT and disbursements.

We can offer a fixed fee for these type of simple UK estates and our initial fixed fee based on the above two scenarios would be £1750 plus VAT and the Probate Registry fee disbursement detailed below.

Complex Inheritance tax liability, may contain business assets with estate worth over £325,000, wide variety of assets and one or more properties, number of legacies, may require claims for reliefs to be made and other reporting requirements we would usually estimate a starting point at £10,000 rising to circa £45,000 plus VAT and disbursements.

Highly complex estates but with foreign assets or beneficiaries, or the UK estate of a non-domiciled individual would begin at £20,000 rising to £75,000 plus VAT and disbursements.