We offer a service where we do the work to obtain the grant of probate or if there is no will, letters of administration as well as a full service where we do the administration of the estate as well. All are subject to a court fee of £300 for estates valued at over £5,000.
Extra copies of probate documents are £1.50 each.
VAT is currently charged at 20%
Probate/Letters of Administration Only (for the Executor/Administrator to administer the estate themselves):
- Where only the IHT205 form (the short form) is required our fee will be £630 plus VAT.
- Where the IHT400 (the long form) is required but there is no inheritance tax payable our fee will be £800 plus VAT or if inheritance tax is payable our fee will be £1,000 plus VAT
Where full administration of the estate is required, our charge will be at the rate of £240 plus VAT per hour. Because no two estates are the same our fee will reflect the amount of time spent, but typically our fee, exclusive of disbursements (expenses) and VAT, is in the range of £2,000 - £5,000. In general terms, an outline of the work undertaken is:
- Obtaining full details and valuations of the assets.
- Advising the executor(s)/administrator(s) on all aspects
- Placing the statutory advertisements
- Preparing the probate application and inheritance tax calculations where necessary and obtaining a probate or letters of administration
- Preparing and filing an income tax return, if necessary
- Realising the assets, including the sale of shares and sale of other assets and distributing the estate. Sometimes this can be done by way of interim distributions
- Finalizing the administration and preparing the statement to account for the assets, expenditure and distribution of the funds.
Our fee does not include:
- Transfer or sale of a property
- If the administration becomes contentious
- Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax or Income Tax.
- Court fee payable on application for probate
- Fees for statutory advertisements, bankruptcy searches and electronic ID checks etc
