Estate Administration Services

Estate Administration Services - Probate Fees

We generally charge 2.5% of the gross value of the estate + 20% VAT or an hourly rate based on the experience of the fee earner handling your case.  

The hourly charging rate is between £230.00 & £295.00 + 20% VAT per hour. Routine letters and emails written/received, and telephone calls made/received are charged at units of 1/10 hour. All charges attract VAT at 20%.

We anticipate on an average estate this will take between 10 and 80 hours work at the above rates per hour. Total costs estimated between £2,500 - £25,000 + 20% VAT depending on the complexity of the Estate.

 Apart from our own costs, there are payments which we have to make to other people which are known as disbursements. the first of these is taxes due to the Government. If an estate is liable to inheritance tax, that tax has to be paid before the Gran of Probate is issued. There may also be income tax and capital gains tax due on an estate.

Disbursements expenses include:

• Probate application fee - £273.00 plus £1.50 per sealed copy Grant of Probate (VAT is not applicable)
• Land Registry search fee - £3.00 (+ 20% VAT)
• Bankruptcy search - £2.00 per beneficiary of a significant amount (+ 20% VAT)
• Newspaper advert £250.00 - £450.00 (+ 20% VAT) (dependant on local paper charges)

This quote is for estate where:

• There is a valid Will
• There is no more than one property
• There are no more than 10 banks or building society accounts
• There are no other intangible assets
• There are 1-10 beneficiaries
• There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
• There are no assets situated outside England and Wales
• There are no claims made against the estate

Please be aware if we are acting as Executors and this involves dealing with some of the more day to day things such as arranging house clearance, for the funeral or visiting the property because there is no family or anyone close to do this then this will have an impact on increasing the costs too over and above the total costs for work set out above.

Potential additional costs:

• Dealing with the sale of transfer of any property in the estate is not included

How long will this take?

On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 4-12 months plus, but this timescale is dependant on whether or not there is a property to sell. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 8-16 weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 4-12 weeks. Once this has been done, and all liabilities discharged, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 2-4 weeks. Where HMRC are involved, these timescales are likely to take longer.