Probate fees

Introduction

This is a fees guide for the area of Wills, Probate and Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA). We believe it is useful for our clients to have an idea of their responsibility for fees at the outset of the matter. It is not always possible to be completely accurate with estimates but we can give you a general guide here. On formal instruction, and when we have a much better idea of your circumstances, we will be able to give you a much better idea. During a case we will keep you updated on costs as the matter progresses.

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We have a very experienced and understanding team of practitioners to help you with whichever issue you need assistance on. We always aim to understand your circumstances early so we can tailor our advice and service to your needs and aim to give you an idea of time frames as early in the matter as we can. We are sure you will be delighted with the service we provide.

Wills
Below is a guide of what you can expect with regard to the cost of a Will. On instruction, and when we know the full circumstances, we will give you a clear estimate that you will be able to rely on.

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Single Will From £230

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Mirror Wills (i.e. 2 Wills in similar terms) from £350

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There are times when you require a Life Interest Trust in your Wills. This can typically be where you may be in a second marriage / relationship and each want to provide for your own children. These types of Wills do cost more to make as they are much longer. You can generally budget on an extra £75 for a single Will and £100 for Mirror Wills. These extra fees will include altering your Title Deeds if necessary.

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Sometimes, where you case includes many assets and involves detailed Inheritance Tax (IHT) advice and planning, the cost will be more. Your case worker will advise you on this at the first meeting.

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Please Note that VAT will be added to all of our fees and the figures set out above are based upon the facts being reasonable straight forward.

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We aim to let you have a draft Will within 7 working days of receiving full instructions. If you respond to us promptly, we would hope to complete you Will within 3 weeks. Our fees also include the registering of your Will on the National Will Register.

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There are not many factors which would cause us to charge more than set out above. Two of most usual would be if you require us to carry out an optional home visit or to prepare and finalise the Will in a very short time span. We would outline this to you at the outset.

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In terms of any additional costs with the making of Wills there are very few. The most likely would be the cost of obtaining a copy of your property title deeds (£3 per property). Any other Land Registry fees would be notified to you at the first appointment. This may be for example where we need to alter the ownership of one or more of your properties for IHT planning issues.

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA)

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Our pricing structure for LPAs is very straight forward and is as follows:

1 LPA £450

2 LPAs £600

4 LPAs £900

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VAT at the prevailing rate will be added to this.

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There are Court fees payable on registering the LPAs with the Office of the Public Guardian. These currently stand at £82 per power. There are some circumstances where you may be able to apply for a fee remission or exemption and your caseworker can advise on this at your first meeting.

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There is very little that would lead to a variation of these fees but speed and a voluntary home visit as set out above would be two of them.

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In terms of timing, we aim to let you have draft LPAs within 7 working days. Generally thereafter, and taking into account the built in statutory waiting period, LPAs are generally concluded within 3-4 months. This assumes you can arrange for your attorneys to sign the documentation promptly.

Probate Fees

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It is very difficult indeed to give particularly accurate costings for Probate matters. This is solely because every single matter is completely different and the types of assets vary so widely in every estate.

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The information we provide below is a guide only and your case worker will give you a much more accurate idea of the costs after your first appointment. We do offer a free half an hour initial appointment to try to assist you in making properly informed decisions.

The probate Process generally consists of 3 main stages:

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1. Gathering information and obtaining the Grant of Representation (including the IHT return to the Revenue)

2. Collecting the assets in.

3. Distributing the estate in accordance with the Will or the Rules of Intestacy.

Each one of these sections can have its own complications but we can give the following guidelines:

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1. Estate – Gross Value under £325,000. Short Form Tax Return.
   Between £700 and £1600 depending on how much information we are required to obtain

2. Estate – No IHT payable and short Form IHT forms can be used including Claiming the Transferable Nil Rate Band of a deceased spouse.
   Between £800 and £2000 depending on how much information we are required to obtain.

3. Estate – No IHT payable but a full IHT Account required
   Between £1750 and £2750 depending on how much information we are required to obtain.

4. Estate – IHT Payable and a full IHT Account required.
   Between £2250 and £3500 depending on how much information we are required to obtain.

 

The above costs are to complete item numbered 1 above and to obtain the Grant of Representation. 
All fees will be subject to VAT at the prevailing rate.

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Stage 2 and 3 above will vary as a result of many factors for example:

• The number of assets

• The type of asset (shares can be quite expensive to deal with especially if a share certificate has been lost)

• Is there property to be sold or transferred

• The amount and type of and liabilities of the estate

• The complexity of the IHT or Income Tax finalisation

• The number of beneficiaries to distribute to

• Does any of the beneficiaries lack capacity to hold the inheritance eg under age or lacking mental capacity

• Any disputes within the estate or claims against it

• Any claim and investigation brought by the DWP for overpaid Benefits during the deceased’s lifetime

• Whether full estate accounts are required or more basic ones

 

This is just an idea of the type of thing which may make the estate more difficult to distribute and finalise. On average though, we would say that this stage of the matter would typically be resolved within the range of £1000 to £2500. This is in addition to the costs for stage 1 and will also have VAT added at the prevailing rate.

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In addition to Legal Cost there may typically be additional expenses involved in a matter. These are fees payable to third parties and may include:

• Land Registry Fees for title £3.00

• Land Registry Fees for transferring house £40 to £270 (Depending on value and whether registered or not)

  Probate Court Fee £273.00

  Additional copies of the Grant are available at £1.50 per copy

• Advertising the death to protect the executors £190.00

• Bank Charges for large electronic transfers £48

• Surveyors Fees £350 to £2000

 

As said above these are a guide only and you will be advised fully on all Third Party fees that may be payable as your matter progresses.

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Giving an estimate of the time a matter may take is also very difficult. In straight forward matters a Grant could be obtained within four to five months. In more complex matters it may take over a year. In general though, we suggest people work on having a Grant within 5-6 months if the short form IHT tax returns are required and 7 to 9 months if a long form IHT return is required. We will always try to make this as quick as possible for you.

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One final and important thing to note in these matters is that we never ever charge our costs based upon a percentage of the estate value. This can be very expensive for the estate. 
We only ever charge for the work that we do.

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If you have any questions about any of the above information please telephone to speak to any one of our dedicated team and we shall be delighted to help.