Probate And Administration Of Estates

(Uncontested)

General

 We will provide you with a detailed estimate of costs for your proposed work as early as we can.  Wherever possible, this will be a fixed quote to assist you with budgeting.  This is not always possible and we may have to (in limited circumstances) vary our fees once your matter progresses.  We will keep you fully informed and only incur additional costs/disbursements with your agreement.

The information on this page will give you a guidance of likely costs and disbursements for an uncontested matter.  We do however recommend you to contact us prior so that we can provide a bespoke quote tailored to your requirements.   

Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets

The fees you incur will depend upon a number of factors, such as complexity, value, the make-up of the estate etc.  We charge for our work on an hourly basis as per our terms of business (which can be found on our website).  The hourly rate will vary accordingly to the level of qualification of the fee earner.  The table below gives an example of likely costs.

We will keep you informed of our fees on a regular basis (monthly or quarterly) and throughout the probate process.   

The work included in our fees will include:

  • Providing you with a dedicated and experience experienced solicitor to work on your matter.
  • Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries.
  • Assist with identifying the type of probate application required and appropriate for your matter.
  • Collect, organise and prepare the application documentation.
  • Preparing and completing the probate application and the relevant HMRC forms.
  • Drafting of legal affidavit/oath for you to swear or affirm.
  • Submitting the application to the probate court.
  • Extracting and obtaining the grant of Probate (where there is a Will) or Letters of Administration (in the case of intestacy/no will)
  • Upon receiving Probate/Letter, to collect and distribute all assets in the estate.

We will keep informed of the process at all stages.  The timescales will very much depend on each individual case. We hope to provide you with an estimate once we have discussed your circumstances.   

This Table provides a guideline to likely fees. The fees and disbursements you pay may differ, depending on your own circumstances. 

Obtaining Grant of Probate/ Grant of Letters of Administrators.

 

£1200 plus VAT

Dealing with the entire estate and distributing to the beneficiaries.

Charged on an hourly basis, as per our terms of conditions – presently £300 per hour for a Solicitor and £200 for a trainee or equivalent

Disbursements

These are expenses that would be relevant to your matter and payable to third parties.  Most of these will be of a standard nature and be fixed by the third party.  We help you by handling the payments of these disbursements on your behalf to smooth the whole process.  

Disbursements include:-

  • Probate application fee for Grant of Probate of £155 plus 50p per additional official copy.
  • Oath fees for executors – normally £5 per executor plus £2 per exhibit to submit with the oath. This is charged and payable to the Solicitor or Commissioner for Oaths who administers the oath
  • Bankruptcy searches – these are carried out against parties such as beneficiaries and cost £2.00 per name.
  • Notice fees payable to newspaper (local) and The Gazette. The amount of these fees depend on the locality.