Further information relating to our team can be found on their individual profile pages within this website. Regardless of who works on a matter, they will be supervised by Jacqui Johnson, partner and head of the private client department, unless stated otherwise on the relevent profile page.

Estimated Costs – Applying for the grant only
(no inheritance tax payable)

Collecting and distributing the assets is not included.

We anticipate this will take between 6 and 10.5 hours work at an average of £120 per hour exclusive of VAT (£144 per hour inclusive of VAT), and subject to a minimum fee of £900 exclusive of VAT (£1,080 inclusive of VAT). Our total costs are therefore estimated at between £900 and £1,500 exclusive of VAT (£1,080 and £1,800 inclusive of VAT).

VAT will be charged at the prevailing rate.

We will handle the full grant application process for you. This quote is for estates where:

• There is a valid Will
• The executors provide us with the valuations of the assets at the date of death
• The executors deal with collecting and distributing the 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 inheritance tax return to HMRC
• There are no claims made against the estate

Estimated Costs – Applying for the grant only
(inheritance tax payable)

Collecting and distributing the assets is not included.

We anticipate this will take between 20 and 30 hours work at an average of £120 per hour exclusive of VAT (£144 per hour inclusive of VAT), and subject to a minimum fee of £3,000 exclusive of VAT (£3,600 inclusive of VAT). Our total costs are therefore estimated at between £3,000 and £3,600 exclusive of VAT (£3,600 and £4,320 inclusive of VAT)..

VAT will be charged at the prevailing rate.

We will handle the full grant application process for you. This quote is for estates where:

• There is a valid Will
• The executors provide us with the valuations of the assets at the date of death
• The executors deal with collecting and distributing the 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 are no assets located in a country outside England and Wales. If there are, this is likely to lead to an increase in costs.
• There is inheritance tax payable and the executors need to submit a full inheritance tax return to HMRC
• There are no claims made against the estate

Estimated costs – Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets

We anticipate this will take between 8 and 30 hours work at an average of £120 per hour exclusive of VAT (£144 per hour inclusive of VAT). Our total costs are therefore estimated at between £960.00 and £3,600 exclusive of VAT (£1,152 and £4,320 inclusive of VAT).

VAT will be charged at the prevailing rate.

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 will handle the full process for you. This quote is for estates where:

• There is a valid Will
• There is no more than one property
• There are no more than 8 bank or building society accounts
• There are no other intangible assets, e.g. shares
• There are 2-5 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 located in a country outside England and Wales. If there are, 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 inheritance tax return to HMRC. If a full inheritance tax return is required, this typically adds 10-15 hours work to the process , chargeable at the average rate shown above (if there are assets located outside England and Wales, there will be a greater fee than this).
• There are no claims made against the estate

Work included

As part of our fee, we will  :

• Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate team member 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 to make the application
• Complete the probate application and (where inheritance tax is payable) the relevant HMRC forms
• Draft a statement of truth for you to sign
• Make the application to the Probate Registry on your behalf
• Obtain the probate or grant of letters of administration for you and send copies to you
• (where instructed to do so) Collect and distribute all assets to the estate.

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 which are usually payable during the course of the administration of an estate are as follows:

• £300 – probate application fee
• Up to £300 – notices placed in the London Gazette and a local newspaper (in respect of which local rates vary).  This protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.

Not all of these will necessarily be payable depending upon the circumstances of the matter. We would advise further upon receipt of all of the relevant information.

Potential additional costs

• 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. In those circumstances, we would estimate that these factors will involve us undertaking between 10 and 15 hours of additional work, at an average rate of £120 per hour exclusive of VAT (£144 per hour inclusive of VAT). Our total additional costs are therefore estimated at between £1,200 and £1,800 exclusive of VAT (£1,440 and £2,160 inclusive of VAT) on top of the estimated costs listed to above. We can give a more accurate quote once we have more information. VAT will be charged at the prevailing rate.

• If any additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost £1.50 each (1 per asset usually)
• Dealing with the sale or transfer of any house or land in the estate is not included.

How long will this take?

On average, estates generally take between 7 and 12 months to wind up and distribute if the estate is not liable for inheritance tax, or between 7 and 24 months where inheritance tax is payable.

Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes around 2 to 4 months. Collecting assets then follows, which can take on average between 3 and 4 months. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 2-4 months.

The above estimate is based on an average estate. Each matter will vary on its own factors and separate advice tailored to the specific circumstances will be provided at the outset of every matter.

The work set out above is all that is usually required. If some of the work is not required, or if a client wishes to handle individual aspects themselves the cost would be less.

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