This is where we assist you in part of the Estate Administration process. You provide us with all of the financial information in the Estate and we complete the legal process of applying for the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration. This involves completing an Inheritance Tax form – the Return of Estate Information Form (IHT205) and preparing and a Legal Statement for the Executors/Administrators to sign and then lodging the application with the Probate Registry. We then provide you with the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration for you to deal with gathering in the assets and distributing the Estate yourself:
The scope of this work covers:
We usually charge you a fixed fee of £995.00 plus VAT and disbursements for this service. If things are more complicated then we may need to charge more but we can let you know this from the outset.
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.
The disbursements you can expect to incur are as follows:
On average our Grant Only – Return of Estate Information Form (IHT205) Service takes 1 – 3 months. Please note that at present the Probate Court are experiencing long delays and the time to issue a Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration could be on average from 12 -16 weeks.
Where a Grant of Probate/Letter of Administration is required urgently (e.g. for the sale of a property where exchange has taken place) and the Estate is simple we can offer an expedited service for an additional charge.
This is where we assist you in part of the Estate Administration process. You provide us with all of the financial information in the Estate and we complete the legal process of applying for the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration. This involves completing an Inheritance Tax form for HMRC known as an IHT400 which has a number of Schedules to it and we also prepare a Legal Statement for the Executors/Administrators to sign. We lodge the IHT400 with HMRC go on to lodge the application with the Probate Registry. We then provide you with the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration for you to deal with gathering in the assets and distributing the Estate yourself:
The IHT400 is usually required where the person who has died had their house in a Trust or had made significant gifts in their lifetime or the value of their Estate is such that Inheritance Tax is payable or that additional reliefs and exemptions (for example the Residence Nil Rate Band) are required to be claimed
The scope of this work covers:
This is a more complicated process than the Grant Only Service involving the Return of Estate Information Form (IHT205) as there are a higher number of forms to complete and often taxation aspects to cover so we will provide you with a quote specific to the circumstances of the Estate.. Our charges to start from £2,000 plus VAT and disbursements for this service.
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.
The disbursements you expect to incur are as follows:
On average our Grant Only – Full Inheritance Tax Account required (IHT400) takes 3 – 6 months. In addition to this, it can take many weeks for HMRC to issue a receipt for the IHT400 which is required before the Probate can be applied for. Once submitted it will take approximately 2 weeks for the Probate Court to issue the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration. Please note that at present the Probate Court are experiencing long delays and the time to issue a Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration could be on average from 12 – 16 weeks.
Under our Full Estate Service we would usually undertake all of the work on behalf of the Estate from ‘start to finish’.
We would usually undertake the following as part of this:
The scope of the work depends on the complexity and value of the Estate. We have tried to split our Full Estate Service into 3 different categories: a Simple Estate, a Mid-Range Estate and a High Value or High Complexity Estate.
There will be some cross over between these three categories and we can provide a more precise estimate regarding what category the Estate falls into after an initial meeting. Sometimes the complexity of an Estate evolves throughout the probate process if new assets or issues are uncovered.
On our Full Estate Services we charge on a fixed fee basis which we will advise of once we have understood the scope of the work involved. Our fees given for a Full Estate Service are demonstrative of the range of fees you could expect.
For information purposes, the hourly rates of our private client fee earners who may deal with the Estate are as follows:
Where we are responsible for gathering the money into our client account (this is because we treat this as an Executors Account for the Estate) and we prepare Estate Accounts and distribute the Estate we also charge a ‘value element’. This is a mark-up percentage usually charged on the value of the ‘liquid’ assets (that is anything other than a property) in the Estate. This is usually charged at 1% plus VAT.
We also have a ‘value element’ mark-up percentage in relation to the property in the Estate of 0.5% plus VAT but this is only generally chargeable where we are responsible for ‘looking after’ the property during the administration period.
We anticipate administering a Simple Estate this will take approximately 12 – 15 hours work. Total costs estimated could range from at £4,000.00 – £5,000.00 plus VAT and disbursements.
There will be a ‘value element’ charge in addition to these fees as detailed above.
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.
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 for a ‘Simple Estate’ is generally for estates where:
Disbursements you would expect to incur are:
On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 6 – 9 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 6 months (but subject to current timescales at the Probate Court) Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 2-3 months. Once this has been done, we can distribute the Estate which normally takes 1 month.
If there is a property in the Estate the administration cannot be completed until the property is sold or transferred which can prolong the time it takes to administer the Estate.
Additionally conveyancing costs will apply if the property is sold – our conveyancing department will have these relevant fees for you.
We anticipate administering a Mid-Range Estate this will take approximately 20 – 40 hours work. Total costs estimated at £5,000.00 to £8,00.00 plus VAT and disbursements.
There will be a ‘value element’ charge in addition to these fees as detailed above.
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.
The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if there is a small number of assets and a small number of beneficiaries, costs will be at the lower end of the range. If there are multiple beneficiaries, a one or more properties and multiple bank accounts, multiple shareholdings, investments and other assets or multiple debts, costs will be at the higher end.
An insolvent Estate is likely to come into this category.
We will handle the full process for you. This quote is generally for estates where:
Disbursements you would expect to incur are:
On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 12 – 18 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 6 – 8 months Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 4 – 6 months. Once this has been done, we can prepare the Estate Accounts finalise any income tax and distribute the Estate which normally takes 1 – 3 months.
If there is a property in the Estate the administration cannot be completed until the property is sold or transferred which can prolong the time it takes to administer the Estate.
Additionally conveyancing costs will apply if the property is sold – our conveyancing department will have these relevant fees for you.
We anticipate administering a High Value/High Complexity Estate will take at least 40 hours work. Total costs for this average at £8,000.00 plus VAT and disbursements but from experience in these could range to £15,000.00 upwards plus VAT and disbursements.
There will be a ‘value element’ charge in addition to these fees as detailed above.
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.
These fees generally apply where there are complex factors in the Estate because it is high value (e.g. in excess of £1 million) and there are multiple assets usually including business or agricultural assets.
The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if the estate is taxable but there are a smaller number of assets easily identifiable and determinable and a small number of beneficiaries, costs will be at the lower end of the range. If there are multiple beneficiaries, multiple properties, multiple bank accounts, multiple shareholdings, multiple investments and multiple other assets costs will be at the higher end.
Costs at the higher end will include estates with business or agricultural assets or Estates where a full investigation to locate assets is required. Costs at the higher end could include where there is intestacy where beneficiaries have to be traced and there is a high number located say 10 – 20 plus.
We will handle the full process for you. This quote is generally for estates where:
Disbursements you would expect to incur are:
On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt within 18 – 36 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes/letter of administration takes 12 months (tax payable at the 6 month mark will be estimated and paid on account to HMRC). Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 6 – 12 months. Once this has been done, we can prepare the Estate Accounts finalise any income tax and distribute the Estate which normally takes 3 – 6 months.
If there is a property in the Estate or business and agricultural assets the administration cannot be completed until the property or business and agricultural assets are sold or transferred which can prolong the time it takes to administer the Estate. In these circumstances, administration stretches to the higher end of the estimated timescale or beyond.
Additionally conveyancing costs will apply if the property is sold – our conveyancing department will have these relevant fees. Our commercial and corporate departments may be involved in respect of the sale of commercial assets and these respective departments can provide these relevant fees.
Where a beneficiary wants to vary the terms of the Will or Intestacy there is a legal mechanism to do this; this is called a Deed of Variation. The costs of this can be met by the Estate or the individual beneficiary depending on the circumstances. Estimated costs for a Deed of Variation tend to range from £800.00 plus VAT for a simple Deed of Variation (e.g. one beneficiary redirecting the whole of an Estate which is non-taxable) up to £2,000 plus VAT for a complex Deed of Variation (e.g. a variation of an Estate into a Trust or where the Executors or Administrators are varying a share in a deceased’s Estate or where the Deed of Variation changes the amount of Inheritance Tax payable on the Estate.
On average a Deed of Variation will take 1 – 3 months to complete.
