Probate Price Guide

Our Service

Unless we are instructed otherwise, we will:

  1. Obtain balances on all bank and building society accounts;
  2. Request balances on any shares, ISAs or other investments;
  3. Arrange the valuation of any property and any items of value;
  4. Obtain details of all debts of the estate such as any unpaid utilities, loans or credit cards;
  5. Request a copy of the funeral account;
  6. Prepare the relevant legal statement and inheritance tax return;
  7. Deliver the relevant documents to the Probate Registry;
  8. Upon receipt of the grant, prepare and issue an estate account to the relevant parties;
  9. Gather in the assets of the estate;

  10. Make payments of any debts and expenses;

  11. Pay the beneficiaries of the will or the people entitled to receive the estate in the absence of a will;
  12. Finalise all matters.

Typical Example
How long cases like this depend upon their complexity, but typically from the date of instruction a matter takes between 6 and 12 months to conclude.
The key stages of the process are the compiling of the information to apply for the grant, the issuing of the grant, the gathering in of the assets and the distribution of the assets.

How much does probate cost?

Your matter will be handled by Courtney Leach or another suitably qualified solicitor in our probate team and we will charge £250 plus VAT at 20% of £50 totalling £300 per hour plus disbursements.
A typical, straightforward application for a grant of probate will take between 4 and 20 hours and so we estimate a cost of between £1,000 plus VAT at 20% of £200 totalling £1,200 plus disbursements and £5,000 plus VAT at 20% of £1,000 totalling £6,000 plus disbursements.
Estates will cost towards the lower end of the bracket if there are only a few bank accounts and beneficiaries, few debts and the executors are aware and have evidence of the value of all assets and liabilities either prior to or soon after our instructions and we are not required to obtain these.
Those estates with numerous beneficiaries, that create trusts, have numerous bank accounts and/ or assets and work is required in obtaining values of assets and liabilities and valuations of assets, will typically require more time to complete.

 

This example is for a simple estate and assumes the following:

  1. that there is a will or, in the case of an intestacy, there is no dispute as to the rightful beneficiaries of the estate;
  2. there are no disputes regarding the estate;
  3. there are no foreign assets;
    the deceased owned only one property; and
  4. the value of the estate other than any property is lower than £500,000.

If you wish to instruct us on a probate matter and the estate would not meet the above criteria, we are happy to provide you with a bespoke estimate of our fees for your case.

 

Our disbursements are typically comprised of the following:

  1. £300.00 (there is no VAT as there is no VAT on court fees) paid to the Probate Registry for obtaining the grant;
  2. £8.10 inclusive of VAT for an ID check on each relevant person;
  3. £1.50 (there is no VAT as there is no VAT on court fees) per additional copy of the grant;
  4. £6.00 HM Land Registry bankruptcy search per person searched for the protection of the executor(s)
  5. advertisements in the London Gazette and a local newspaper (the cost of which vary) to protect the executors against claims, should these be considered appropriate; and
  6. the cost of any valuations; and
  7. any other costs incidental to the estate.

Time

Typically, from the date of our instruction probate matters take between 6 and 12 months. It takes around 12 weeks from the date the application is sent to the Probate Registry for us to receive the grant back. It will take longer if the estate is one that must pay inheritance tax.

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