Here is some price information for probate work in relation to uncontested cases where all the assets are in the UK.
We are a small firm with all fee earners being fully qualified Solicitors, and full members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).
We offer a caring and careful service. We believe that most estates can be dealt with quickly and efficiently and we do our very best to provide an excellent service. However we do not give a fixed fee quote for this type of work except in very rare instances where the work involved is of a very limited nature. We charge by the hour.
Additionally in some complicated estates a small percentage charge based on the value of the estate will also be made, see below. You will be given all of our costing information when you decide whether to use our services.
We cannot anticipate the amount of time it will take to do this as each case is unique. Estimated costs are not possible where all matters differ. Our hourly rate is £200 plus VAT.
The exact cost will depend on the individual time requirement of the matter. For example, if there is one beneficiary and no property, costs will be lower than if there are multiple beneficiaries, a property and say numerous bank accounts and investments to deal with. In the event of more complicated estates we also reserve the right to charge an uplift to our fees of 0.5% plus VAT of the gross value of the estate for Probate/Administration purposes including any additional asset values such as those held in trust.
We will handle the whole Probate process for you except for income tax returns as these are normally carried out more cost effectively by an accountant and we no longer deal with house sales but can recommend a local firm who will be able to assist.
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. If funds are not available we will ask you to provide us with payment for disbursements in advance.
Disbursements include such costs as:
On average, estates are dealt with within 6 to 12 months. Typically, obtaining the Grant of Probate takes 12 to 20 weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 4 and 20 weeks. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 4 to 8 weeks depending on various matters such as final clearance regarding tax and approval of the estate account by the executors. These time estimates will vary with every matter and cannot be seen as a guarantee of how long a matter will take. We have no control over the speed of response from third parties such as banks, HMRC, the Probate Registry and investment houses.
As part of our service we will:
We believe we offer an excellent service to our clients and most of our work comes from personal recommendation. If you need assistance with understanding any of the information above or require further details please telephone us to discuss. Current as of January 2023.