Probate Fees
When someone dies the executors of their Will are responsible for collecting the estate in and distributing it in accordance with the Will. Executors are formally appointed, by the deceased, in their Will.
Our Probate and Estate Administration Team
Our Team has a wealth of experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to Wills and Estate Administration. They have particular expertise in high value estates and complex estates with business and agricultural property.
We have two members of the team who may work on your matter. Regardless of who works on your matter, they will be supervised by Alana Faal, Partner and Head of the Probate and Estate Administration Team.
The firm’s hourly charges are as follows:
Alana Faal Solicitor Advocate (Civil) and Partner £255 per hour plus vat (vat £51)
Alana has a wealth of experience within private client work specialising in wills and probate. Alana qualified as a Solicitor in 2010 after gaining her LLB Honours from Manchester Metropolitan University. Alana has also qualified as a High Court Advocate in Civil proceedings. She became a partner in 2014.
Kaysie Aljarrah Solicitor and Partner £255 per hour plus vat (vat £51)
Kaysie has a wealth of experience within private client work specialising in wills and probate. Kaysie qualified as a Solicitor in 2017 after gaining her LLB Honours from the University of Manchester. She became a partner in 2022.
Our Fees
The exact cost of administering an estate will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if there are one or two beneficiaries, no property, a limited number of bank accounts, no inheritance tax to pay and the executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC costs will be in the region of £1,500- £2000 plus vat (vat £300-£400). If there are multiple beneficiaries, a property, multiple bank accounts, and a full account to submit to HMRC costs will usually be in the region of £3000- £4000 plus vat (vat £600-£800). This is in addition to the below disbursements:
- Probate Court fee of £155 (no vat)
- £1.50 (no vat) for each office copy of the Grant required (1 per asset usually)
- If applicable to your case – possible fees for Trustee Act Notices in the London and Local Gazette– usually range between £160 – £250 plus vat (vat £32- £50). These protect against unexpected claims from unknown creditors
- Bankruptcy Search fees (UK)- £2 plus vat (vat 40p) per beneficiary. Fees will be higher if the beneficiary is located abroad.
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 estimate of the costs once we have more information.
- Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included.
What is included?
- An initial meeting to take instructions and necessary information to complete the paperwork and set up the file
- Notifying all relevant organisations of the death and providing copy death certificates
- Collating necessary date of death valuations and other information in order to draft the probate application and Inheritance Tax Return (if required)
- Preparation of either the paper application form or online application, including the legal statement
- Drawing up a schedule of assets and liabilities
- A meeting to finalise and sign the probate papers
- Submission of the application to the Probate Registry
- Advising you of the receipt of the grant of representation
- Applying for S27 Trustee Act notices (if necessary)
- Completing closure forms and collecting in the proceeds of the assets/accounts
- Paying normal debts and liabilities including refunds to DWP for overpayment of benefits
- Drawing up estate accounts and submitting to the executors for approval
- Notifying legatees of their entitlement, requesting and receiving their ID, obtaining bankruptcy searches, arranging payment
- Notifying residuary beneficiaries of their entitlement, requesting receiving their ID, obtaining bankruptcy searches, arranging interim and final distributions, sending copies of the estate accounts
- If necessary, we will also account to HMRC at the end of the administration for income tax on any interest earned during the administration period.
How long will this service take?
On average, a non-taxable estate will be dealt with within 6-12 months. More complex estates with inheritance tax reliefs being claimed can range from 12 -24 months.
Fixed Fee Services
We do offer a fixed fee service for Grant of Probate only applications. This quote is for where the Executors have obtained all of the asset information and require us to only complete the documentation to make the application for the Grant of Probate. We will hand over the Grant of Probate to the Executors so that they can administer the estate.
Fixed Fee for obtaining Grant of Probate only- Return of Estate information (IHT205)
- Legal fee of £750 plus vat (vat £150)
- Probate Court fee of £155 (no vat) (£0 fee if the estate net value is less than £5,000)
- Additional copies of the Grant of Probate £1.50 per copy no vat
What is included?
- An initial meeting to take instructions and necessary information to complete the paperwork and set up the file
- Providing you with our probate questionnaire for you to give us the information needed to complete the probate papers
- Preparation of either the paper application form or online application, including the legal statement
- A meeting to finalise and sign the probate papers
- Submission of the application to the Probate Registry and dealing with any requisitions they may raise.
- Receipt of the grant of representation which we will hand over to you for your use
How long will this service take?
On average estates that fall within this category take 2-3 weeks from the initial meeting, if we have been provided with all of the information to prepare the documentation ready for signing. Once the documentation has been signed it is submitted to the Probate Registry who take between 2 to 12 weeks to issue a Grant of Probate. Therefore on average it can take up to four months to complete.
Obtaining Grant of Probate only- Full Inheritance Tax Account require (IHT400)
Due to the complexity of completing the IHT400 we are unable to offer a fixed fee for this service, our charges would be charged on an hourly basis as set out above, you could expect our charges to be between £1,000 – £2,000 plus vat (vat £200-£400)
Disbursements payable in addition to our fees
- Probate Court fee of £155 (no vat) (£0 fee if the estate net value is less than £5,000)
- Additional copies of the Grant of Probate £1.50 per copy no vat
What is included?
- An initial meeting to take instructions and necessary information to complete the paperwork and set up the file
- Providing you with our probate questionnaire for you to give us the information needed to complete the probate papers
- Drawing up a schedule of assets and liabilities
- Preparation of the IHT400 and all supporting schedules
- Preparation of either the paper application form or online application, including the legal statement
- A meeting to finalise and sign the probate papers and IHT400
- Submission of the IHT400, schedules and probate summary to HMRC for stamping
- Upon receipt of the stamped Probate Summary submit the probate application to the Probate Registry
- Receipt of the grant of representation which we will hand over to you for your use
How long will this service take?
It will take approximately three to six months.
Our fee for both the short form and long form types of application does not include us informing all banks/building societies etc. of the death, providing death certificates and receiving and collating the assets valuations. We will not collect in any assets or deal with any aspect of the administration of the estate other than obtaining the grant of representation on the personal representative(s)’ behalf.
