Example Service Information and Prices page
Probate and Administration of Estates
Introduction
At Baches we offer a friendly and efficient service in helping you to plan for the future. Our approach to clients is one of friendliness and efficiency. Our services include advice about preparing a Will, creating a Lasting Power of Attorney, estate planning or the creation of Trusts. We are also able to assist with estate administration after a loved one has died. We understand that this is a very difficult time and our aim is to make the administration of an estate as easy for our clients as possible. We are regularly instructed by executors to administer and distribute estates or the firm itself is appointed as the executor.
Occasionally clients feel comfortable distributing the estate themselves and seek our assistance in obtaining the Grant of Probate only. We can also help in situations when someone dies without a Will or where a Will has not been located. The administration of an estate in these circumstances is often more complicated but it is our aim to make this as straightforward for you as possible.
Likewise, we are also highly experienced in dealing with Inheritance Act claims and in circumstances where the validity of a loved one’s Will is in dispute. We offer a committed service and strive to provide grounded and robust advice to ensure that you do not enter into any unnecessary proceedings.
To assist our clients, we have set out below an indication of the likely costs involved in Probate matters along with an indication of the timescales.
Estate Administration: Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets
What the service includes
We will:
Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor to work on your matter
Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application and liaise with all relevant organisations
Complete the Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms
Draft a Statement of Truth for you to sign
Make the application to the Probate Registry on your behalf
Obtain Grant of Probate and office copies
Deal with closure of accounts, collect in estate funds and pay any liabilities
Prepare a final estate account and distribute the estate to the beneficiaries
Anticipated charges and expenses
As we have stated earlier, it is difficult to be precise about the anticipated costs as the exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. Therefore, we have set out below the estimated costs of a typical, straightforward transaction. For this example we have assumed:
There is a valid will
An estate in which there are no more than three bank accounts;
No more than one property in the sole name of the deceased;
No debts;
No likelihood of the estate being insolvent;
No significant lifetime gifts;
No shareholdings;
No trusts to be established;
No dispute between the beneficiaries on the division of the assets;
No Inheritance Tax payable and the Executors do not need to submit a full IHT return to HMRC;
No requirement to use the transferable nil rate band or residence nil rate band;
No other intangible assets;
No claims made against the estate;
No agricultural or business element to the estate;
No foreign element to the estate.
Administration of estates work is normally charged on a time spent basis. Our current hourly charging rates are as follows:
| Description | Hourly rate (excl. VAT) | VAT at 20% | Hourly rate (incl. VAT) |
| Partners | £275.00 | £55.00 | £330.00 |
| Senior Solicitors and Associates | £210.00 | £42.00 | £252.00 |
| Junior Solicitors and Legal Executives | £160.00 | £32.00 | £192.00 |
| Other executive staff | £150.00 | £30.00 | £180.00 |
We have set out below, an indication of the likely cost of our services for a typical matter. These are indicative estimates only. Every matter is different and our aim will be to tailor the costs estimate to your specific requirements. The costs will obviously vary according to the estimate of time required and the status/charging rate of the lawyer dealing with your matter.
| Estimated time required | 16 | hours |
| Hourly rate | £210.00 | per hour (example for a Senior Solicitor) |
| Our fees | £3360.00 | excl. VAT |
| VAT at 20%: | £672.00 | |
| Total | £4032.00 | + disbursements (see below) |
As a guide, our costs for dealing with the administration of a simple, straightforward estate should be within the range £1600 to £5,000 plus VAT (£1820 to £6,000 incl. VAT). For more complex estates the costs can range from £5,000 to £25,000 plus VAT (£6,000 to £30,000 incl. VAT).
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. Disbursements in addition to the above fees include:
| Description | Typical costs |
| Probate application fee | £276.00 |
| Office copies of the Grant of Probate | £1.50 per copy |
| Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches | £2.00 per beneficiary |
| Section 27 Trustee Act notice fee (this protects the Trustees against creditors) | £300.00 – £400.00 |
| Land Registry fees depending on the value of the property and whether it has been registered before. Please note that higher-value unregistered property can cost up to £680 and properties over £1M even more | £30.00 – £400.00 |
| Land Registry search fees | £3.00 plus £0.60 VAT |
| Copy Death Certificate and any other Certificates required | £11.00 per Certificate |
Factors that would increase the costs of your matter
Not having all of the paperwork available or having incorrect information that needs investigation and correction;
Third parties not responding to our communications promptly;
Dealing with unusual, foreign or complex assets or items.
Whether the deceased died with or without a Will
The complexity of the Will
The amount and value of assets
Inheritance tax liability
Identifying all beneficiaries
The level of assistance received from the family in helping deal with the administration
Whether the deceased had a property
Potential additional costs
If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) or assets with more than three different organisations, there are likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how the assets are to be dealt with. Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included in the above costs.
We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.
How long will this take?
It is difficult to estimate with any precision how long a Probate matter will take as it will be influenced by many factors, some of which are outside of our control. However, on average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 6-9 months.
Application for Grant of Probate only
What the service includes
We will:
Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor to work on your matter
Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application
Complete the Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms
Draft a Statement of Truth for you to sign
Make the application to the Probate Registry on your behalf
Obtain the Grant of Probate and securely send copies to you
Our service includes preparing the Oath and relevant IHT forms, which is sworn by the Executors/Administrators, and then submitted to the Probate Registry for the Grant to be issued.
Anticipated charges and expenses
We can help our clients through this difficult process by obtaining the Grant of Probate on their behalf. Our typical costs below assume that we are instructed to seek Grant of Probate only, that no full Inheritance Tax Return requires to be completed and submitted to HMRC, and all financial information is supplied by the Executor.
| Fixed fee: | £750.00 | excl. VAT |
| VAT at 20%: | £150.00 | |
| Total | £900.00 | + disbursements (see below) |
Our typical costs for an application for Probate where a full Inheritance Tax Return is required to be submitted to HMRC is as set out below.
| Fixed fee: | £1,200 | excl. VAT |
| VAT at 20%: | £240.00 | |
| Total | £1,400.00 | + disbursements (as 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. Disbursements in addition to the above fees include:
| Description | Typical costs |
| Probate application fee | £276.00 |
| Office copies of the Grant of Probate | £1.50 per copy |
Please note the above indicative figures are for obtaining a Grant of Probate only and do not include the administration of the estate.
How long will this take?
It is difficult to estimate with any precision how long such a matter will take. The timescale for obtaining the Grant will be dependent on when we receive the information from you to when we receive the Grant from the Probate Registry. As a rough guide, this can vary from 1 to 12 months.
Our Team
Our team has acquired a huge amount of collective experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to obtaining a grant of probate and/or dealing with the administration of the estate. The Team is led by Gursharan Bunger, Solicitor, who is Head of Private Client at Baches.
Gursharan is supported by Solicitor Ian Turlunch. Please refer to the ‘Our People’ link to find out more about our lawyers.