Obtaining Probate & Administration of Estates

Once a Grant of Probate is issued the Estate can be fully administered. Our services for a full administration involve not only those matters relating to obtaining a Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration but making arrangements regarding the Estates’ assets and liabilities once power to deal with the estate in accordance with your loved one’s wishes is granted to you.

All quotations will consist of legal costs (the costs for the services provided which are subject to VAT (currently 20%)) and disbursements. Disbursements are necessary third party costs such as Land Registry Title documents of around £14.00 and bankruptcy searches of around £6.00 (per beneficiary). These disbursements are in addition to those referred to above for obtaining a Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration (such as Probate Registry fee (currently £300.00) and copy Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration fee (£1.50 per copy). We aim to keep disbursements to a minimum where possible and only incur charges for required disbursements.

We strongly recommend that notices are placed in the London Gazette and a local newspaper inviting people who are owed money to come forward by a specified date (within 2 months of the date of the notice). The reason for putting the notices in the papers is that, after the 2-month period has elapsed, you will be personally protected from any claims against the estate of which you have had no notice. If you instruct us to place notices, we will ascertain the fees charged by the newspapers and let you know.

• Where an Estate is insolvent (its liabilities exceed its assets), this would be a complex cases and is likely to involve from 10 hours of work and our costs would be in the region of £2720.00 plus VAT (£3264.00 including VAT);
• An Estate worth approximately £100000 is likely to involve about 10 hours of work and our costs would be in the region of £2720.00 plus VAT (£3264.00 including VAT);
• An Estate worth approximately £200000 is likely to involve about 20 hours of work and solicitors costs would be in the region of £5440.00 plus VAT (£6528.00 including VAT);
• An Estate worth approximately £500000 is likely to involve about 40 hours of work and solicitors costs would be in the region of £10880.00 plus VAT (£13056.00 including VAT).

In addition to the above fees for administering the Estate on an hourly rate basis, we charge a value factor fee which is applied and ranges between 0.5% and 1.5% of the Estate assets. The fees will vary and depend on individual circumstances.

We can discuss any circumstances with you with and where possible we may be able to agree a fixed fee.

We also offer a fixed cost Deed of Variation for £950.00 plus VAT (£1140.00 including VAT). This may be required where the Executors wish to vary the terms of a Will or the rules of intestacy. This may be done for a number of reasons, including reducing the amount of inheritance tax payable, providing for someone who was left out of the Will, to move the deceased’s assets into trust or address any ambiguity in the Will.

As a standard and generally speaking, our fee for administering an estate consists of the following:

• The work referred to above for applying for/receiving the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration; and
• Arranging for Section 27 Notices to be issued in the local paper.
• Arranging for the bank accounts to be closed and cashing in assets once the Grant has been obtained.
• Liaising with Liquidators/Creditors if it is an insolvent estate.
• Dealing with pensions.
• Settling liabilities and any overpayments which may have occurred.
• Settling the income tax position.
• Liaising with Executors/Personal Representatives.
• Contacting beneficiaries with a view to obtaining ID and bank account details.
• Undertaking bankruptcy checks on beneficiaries.
• Transferring the any property in accordance to the Will or Intestacy.
• Preparing Estate Accounts for approval.
• Arranging for distribution to all named beneficiaries in the Will or intestacy.

VAT is currently charged at 20%.

Executor’s Year – The Executor’s year is a time frame, which starts from the date of death. This enables Executors and Personal Representatives to gather all the information they need to regarding the deceased’s assets and liabilities. During this time frame the Executors/Personal Representatives can identify and check for any claims and debts before the estate is distributed in accordance to the Will or Intestacy.

Taking the Executor’s Year into account, the timescale involved in the administration of estates can largely vary, dependent on the amount and nature of the deceased’s assets and liabilities.

As the work ultimately involves contacting third-parties and awaiting responses and relevant actions to be taken, it is very difficult to predict the timescales involved, however we would expect the process to follow the following stages:

• Contacting all third parties, preparing the Probate application and any supporting Tax forms – 6 to 8 weeks
• Extracting the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration – 16 weeks
• Extracting the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration on a complex tax case – 16 to 24 weeks
• Providing all assets holders with a copy of the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration with a view to liquidising the same – 4 to 10 weeks (this is of course dependent on third parties engaging with us)
• Statutory Notices being placed – 9 weeks
• Preparing accounts to dealing with final distribution 8 – 12 weeks (this of course will depend to the complexity the case)

Executors should not distribute estates for at least 6 months from the date of issue of the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration. This is because potential applicants have 6 months from the date of the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration in which to issue proceedings under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. Executors who wait for 6 months from the date of the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration before distributing the estate are granted protection from liability, under the 1975 Act.

If you have any questions or queries regarding our services, please do not hesitate to contact us today.