Probate Costs

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 lower than if there are multiple beneficiaries, a property and multiple Bank Accounts.

For complete transparency VAT is currently at 20% and will be charged on on top of any fees agreed with you.

If we are simply instructed to obtain a Grant of Probate (when there is a Will) or a Grant of Letters of Administration (where there is no Will) without then also dealing with the administration of the estate, then our fees are likely to be in the region of £750.00 plus VAT at 20% plus usual disbursements. These disbursements in usual circumstances are likely to be:

• Probate Registry Fee – the Probate Registry will charge £273 inclusive of VAT for any estate worth more than £5,000.00
• AML Check on Clients – to ensure we meet our AML requirements our firm will undertake identity checks on your from a compliance perspective. Part of these checks will include an online AML Check ratifying your details and documents provided. We will charge you a fee of £4.80 inclusive of VAT

Using the above example if we were to be instructed to solely obtain a Grant of Probate without any administration our fee would total £1,177.80 inclusive of all VAT at 20% and usual disbursements referred to above.

However in more complex cases and also where we are dealing with the administration of an estate we will base our charges on the hourly rate of the fee earner dealing with the matter and in addition, we will make a charge of 1% plus VAT of 20% of the value of the estate including all assets involved in the estate.

The Solicitor dealing with the matter will also charge his chargeable rate on a matter depending on their seniority. For example our lowest fees are

• hourly rate in this firm is £220.00 plus VAT at 20%;
• £22.00 plus VAT at 20% per 6 minute telephone calls;
• £22.00 plus VAT at 20% per correspondence sent/received.

In addition to the above legal costs, there will be disbursements payable such as the Probate Registry fee which currently stands at £273.00 inclusive of VAT.

Disbursements are costs relating to your matter which are payable to third parties such as Court fees and payments made to the London Gazette and/or a local newspaper which can be needed to protect against unexpected claims from unknown Creditors. We handle the payment of disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. For us to provide complete and specific costings on more complex matters we will need to obtain full instructions.

It is extremely difficult to give precise quotations for the overall process of dealing with the administration of an estate as it will completely depend upon each individual case and the complexity involved. If there is no Will, if the estate consists of shareholdings including stocks and bonds, if there is Inheritance Tax payable in the estate of other tax likely to be payable then there are likely to be additional costs which could range significantly depending upon the estate and how it has to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have full information however, an estimate of the total costs payable in dealing with a non-complex Administration would normally be in the region of £2,000.00 to £4,500.00 plus VAT at 20% and disbursements.

On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 4 to 10 months. Typically obtaining the Grant of Probate takes 16-24 weeks. Collecting assets then follows which can take between 6-8 weeks. Once this has been done, we can distribute the estate, which normally takes 3-4 weeks. Again however, the time taken to deal with each estate will very much depend upon the complexities involved, on a case to case basis and further information will be provided when we have had sight of the relevant documentation.