our services & fees
The Work We Do
We act for Executors and Administrators’ in the administration of estates. Every estate is different in terms of both of its composition and the basis on which it will be distributed i.e. either in accordance with instructions contained in the will or where there is no will, under the Intestacy Rules. This means that each estate requires a tailored approach.
We regularly act in the estates of business clients and farmers, which are complex and of high value and generally involving claims for Business and Agricultural Property Relief.
We also act for Executors appointed in Wills which implement trusts, both life interest and discretionary trust. We then assist Trustees in their trust administration
Samantha Downs is our probate and trust specialist. She works with Emily McFadyen and they are supported by Kevin Box (our experienced land and property Solicitor) and Robert Hughes, our company commercial specialist [each name a link to website profile].
Our Services
We will handle the administration on your behalf.
This includes our preparing an Inheritance Tax Account: short form on IHT 205 - if there is no Inheritance Tax to pay or long form on IHT 400 - if the estate is liable to Inheritance Tax, where there have been lifetime gifts which exceed the HMRC’s exemptions or Agricultural and Business Property Relief are being claimed.
We will obtain a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration (where there is no will) on your behalf.
We will publish the statutory Trustee notices to protect you against unwanted claim. We will liquidate all the assets, deal with the payment of the estate’s debts, tax (Inheritance, Income and Capital Gains Tax, as is required) and then distribute the estate in accordance with the terms of the will or under the Intestacy Rules.
To conclude the administration, we will prepare estate accounts which represent a financial chronology of the estate.
Our prices
The nature of the work we do makes it impossible to fix prices until we know more about the composition of the estate and the issues which will be involved in the administration.
We will not charge for an initial enquiry over the telephone. Whenever possible we will offer you a fixed fee for dealing with the administration of an estate on your behalf. If this is sometimes not possible, for example, because the extent of the estate is unknown at the outset then we will agree with you a budget. If we are likely to exceed any budget or because the assumptions on which we provided our budget proves not to be correct, then we will inform you and either agree a revised budget or fixed fee.
Our fees for dealing with the administration of an estate can range between £1,500 to £50,000 excluding Value Added Tax.
In all cases we will cost our work at our hourly rates which are between £120 and £295 per hour, depending on the skill and experience of the fee earners concerned and the complexity of the estate. Our budgets and work plans will always select a lawyer and an hourly rate appropriate for the administration.
We do not charge a percentage based on the value of the estate.
Estates which are administered at the lower end of the fee range are not Inheritance Tax liable and involve limited assets possibly a couple of bank accounts, investments, a small share portfolio and typically includes property which is owned jointly and therefore passes by survivorship and not under the terms of the deceased’s will.
At the higher end of the range are high value estates which may involve foreign assets, businesses or interests in businesses (companies and partnerships), farms, multiple properties and the implementation of trusts where specialist advice is needed. These estates can involve hard fought challenges by HRMC as to the availability of reliefs (Agricultural and Business Property Relief).
Included within our fixed fee or estimate you will incur other costs payable to third parties and which we will handle on your behalf. These costs will be payable by you in addition to our charges. These typically include the following:
Probate application fee of £155,
If any additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost £1.50 a copy (1 per asset usually).
Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary)
£65 plus VAT for the publication of a Trustee notice in The London Gazette – protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
Up to £100 plus VAT for the publication of a notice in a Local Newspaper. This also helps to protect against unexpected claims.
Timescales
On average, estates take between 6 to 12 months to administer. Some can be completed more quickly than that but some take longer. The time taken depends on the nature of the assets, including whether there is a business, businesses property or properties and land which need to be sold. We will give you a best indication of timescale at the outset.
Once all the assets and liabilities are ascertained then typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes between 3 to 4 weeks. Collecting the assets then follows, which can take between 4 to 8 weeks.
If the estate includes a business, property, land then this will take longer. Once all of assets have been liquidated and all the debts discharged then, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes between 3 to 6 weeks.
If the estate includes land, a property or properties then the sale or transfer of these will be dealt with by one our experienced team of property lawyers.
If you require more information, or to discuss a Probate matter with us, please contact us.