Thank you for looking at our probate services. Coping with the death of a person can bring a mixture of emotions and the legal side of dealing with a person’s death can often be overwhelming and confusing. Having compassionate, experienced legal advice can make this difficult situation much easier on you and your loved ones.
Whether the deceased person left a Will or whether there is substantial wealth and property involved, the sense of burden can increase. Where a Will is in existence the Executors will need to apply for the grant of probate which will give them the legal right to administer the estate. Where there is no Will in existence, the Will is invalid, or it does not specify Executor, an Administrator will need to be appointed.
Why Us
We have two members of the team who may work on your matter. Regardless of who works on your matter, they will be supervised by Sarah Thiede, Director and Head of probate and estate administration.
Sarah Thiede – Director and Solicitor
Sarah is the head of our team and has over 15 years’ experience in private client work, specialising in wills and probate. Sarah has been working in this area since she qualified and has helped hundreds of families and individuals.
Sarah qualified as a solicitor in 2009. She completed her training contract at Malcolm C Foy & Co and has been here ever since.
Sarah has also completed several professional development courses in probate and estate administration and is a full member of Solicitors For The Elderly
Pricing
We offer two kinds of estate service, one limited to applying for Probate only and one which involves the entire estate administration.
Fixed Fee - Applying for the Grant only
When dealing with someone’s estate, there are ultimately three stages;
- Collecting all relevant information from banks / investment companies to find out the extent of the deceased persons estate
- Using that information to fill in the probate application documents for submission to the Probate Registry, so that they can grant Probate to enable to estate to be wound up i.e. the bank accounts closed, any property sold etc
- Sending the Grant of Probate to the banks etc to request that all accounts be closed, before distributing the funds in accordance with the Will / the rules of Intestacy (where there is no Will).
We sometimes find that clients are happy to deal with the first and third stages themselves, but do not know how to deal with the second stage - the application for Probate. If you wish to proceed on this basis and wish to instruct us to deal with application for Probate only, on the basis of the information provided by you, fees are as follows:
- £600+VAT (£720) Legal fees
Essential disbursements payable in addition to this fee:
- £273 Probate application fee
- £1.50 per copy of the Grant required
- £2 (per beneficiary) Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches
Optional disbursements payable in addition to this fee:
- £84.60 to post in The London Gazette – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
- £120.00(average) to post in a Local Newspaper (dependant on locality)– This also helps to protect against unexpected claims.
As part of our fixed fee we will:
- Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate lawyer to work on your matter
- Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
- Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
- Complete the Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms
- Draft a legal oath for you to swear
- Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
- Obtain the Probate and securely send any paid for copies to you
How long will this take?
Preparing the paperwork to apply for Probate generally takes 1-2 weeks, and it usually takes the Probate Registry around 8-16 weeks to process the application and issue the Grant to us
Any additional optional costs?
If there is a property within the estate which needs to be transferred to a beneficiary (rather than sold) we can provide this as an additional service is required. The added costs of doing this are:
- £150 plus VAT (£180) Legal fees
- £20-£50 HM Land Registry fees depending on the value of the property
- £3 Official copy entries
Full estate administration
Collecting the relevant information, applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets
If you instruct us to deal with the whole estate administration, we anticipate this will take between 5 and 15 hours work at £255+VAT per hour. Total costs estimated would be between £1,275-£3,825 +VAT.
While we generally work on an hourly rate basis, we are always happy to provide a fixed fee service if preferred, again likely to be in the cost range quoted above, so that you know exactly what you will need to pay before instructing us.
The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if there is one beneficiary and no property, costs will be at the lower end of the range. If there are multiple beneficiaries, shareholdings, a property and multiple bank accounts, costs will be at the higher end.
We will handle the full process for you. This quote is for estates where:
- There is a valid will
- There is no more than one property
- There are no more than 8 bank or building society accounts
- There are no other intangible assets
- There are 1-10 beneficiaries
- There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
- There is no inheritance tax payable and the executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC
- There are no claims made against the estate
Essential disbursements payable in addition to this fee:
- £273 Probate application fee
- £1.50 per copy of the Grant required
- £2 (per beneficiary) Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches
Optional disbursements payable in addition to this fee:
- £84.60 to post in The London Gazette – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
- £120(average) to post in a Local Newspaper (dependant on locality – This also helps to protect against unexpected claims.
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.
Potential additional costs
- If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there is likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.
- If any additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost £0.50 per copy (1 per asset usually).
- Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included.
How long will this take?
On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 3-6 months from start to finish. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 8-12 weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 2-4 weeks. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 2-4 weeks.
As part of our fee we will:
- Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate lawyer 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 legal oath for you to swear
- Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
- Obtain the Probate and securely send two copies to you
- Collect and distribute all assets in the estate, after obtaining suitable identification and payment authorities from the beneficiaries of the estate