Our Fees for Probate and Administration of Estate

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We undertake probate work under a fixed  fee arrangement or at hourly rates depending on the complexity of the  case. We have an initial consultation with our clients to discuss this  and give a fee quote. Our hourly rates start at £121 per hour for a  grade D fee earner (trainee solicitor, paralegal and other case workers)  to £229 per hour for a grade A fee earner (director, solicitor, or  legal executive with over 8 years’ experience). 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 anticipate that work on probate cases  will take between 9 and more than 13 hours work but this can be  discussed at the initial consultation once the work that needs to be  done has been discussed.

•  Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor to work on your matter.
• Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries.
• Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require.
• Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application.
• Complete the Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms.
• Draft a legal oath for you to swear.
• Make the application to the Probate Registry on your behalf.
• Obtain the Probate and securely send two copies to you.
• Collect and distribute all assets in the estate.

This estimate is for estates where:

• There is a valid will.
• There is no more than one property.
• There are no other intangible assets.
• 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.

A higher fixed fee will apply if there are other factors or complexities or if a more senior fee earner works on the case.

Disbursements

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.

Disbursements are NOT included in this estimate and are additional to the fixed fee.

• Probate application fee of £215 (Personal application)
• Probate court fee of £155.00 £7.00 to £10.00 Swearing of the oath (per executor).
• Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2.00 per beneficiary).
• £93.00 to £95.00 Post in The London Gazette – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
• £450.00 – £500.00 Post in a Local Newspaper – This also helps to protect against unexpected claims.

The application fee is £215 if the value of the estate is £5,000 or over – there is no fee if the estate is under £5,000.

•  If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings  (stocks and bonds) there are 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 £0.50 (1 per asset usually).
• Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included.

• Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes a minimum of 6 weeks.  Collecting assets then follows and once this has been done, we can  distribute the assets. On average, estates that fall within this range  are dealt with within 6 weeks – 6 months.