Probate

Probate Fees V07.24

When a person dies, it may become necessary to apply for probate of the deceased person’s estate. Probate is the legal right to deal with someone’s property, money and possessions (their ‘estate’) when they die. A grant of probate needs to be applied for through the Probate Registry and once granted, it gives you the legal right to deal with a person’s estate after they have died. If a person dies intestate, a grant of letters of administration is used instead. In addition, there are times when probate is not required, however HMRC forms need to be completed.

At Makka Solicitors Ltd, our wills and probate team have experience in advising on probate matters and from the outset can guide you on the best course of action and assist with the complex task of obtaining probate, collecting and administering the estate.

At Makka Solicitors Ltd we charge only the hourly rate incurred in dealing with these matters regardless of the complexity of the matter whereas other firms charge you their fees on hourly rates as well as up to 1.5% of the value of the estate.

There is no ‘typical’ administration of estate and therefore it can be difficult to quantify the costs however in more straightforward cases, in applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets, we anticipate this will take between 5 and 50 hours work at £300.00 per hour plus VAT at 20%. Total costs estimated at £1,400 to £14,000 (+VAT at 20%).

Assumptions on which the above information is provided

The fee ranges we have set out above are based on several assumptions, as follows:

1. There is either a valid Will held by the Deceased, or all relatives to inherit the estate via the intestacy rules are known and traceable. Evidence of their eligibility and relation to the deceased is readily available.
2. It is agreed between all relevant parties at the outset who will act as our client and obtain the Grant, with no disputes or challenges to this arising in the course of the matter.
3. If the estate is to be varied, then the terms of the variation are agreed by all relevant parties in a reasonable time.
4. There are no disputes between beneficiaries as to the division of the deceased’s assets, or any claims made under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
5. There are no foreign or intangible assets which we are required to administer.
6. There are no more than 3 bank or building society accounts
7. There are no other intangible assets
8. There are 2-4 beneficiaries

Key Stages:

1. Meeting with the executor’s to discuss the deceased’s estate and the estate administration;
2. Writing to all financial institutions where the deceased held assets and liabilities and where instructed to do so arrange a valuation for land owned by the deceased;
3. Place statutory notices (if instructed to do so);
4. Notify all of the beneficiaries of the will on behalf of the executor that they are due to inherit from the estate once a grant of probate has been issued, obtain the beneficiaries identification, bank details and check their bankruptcy status (where appropriate);
5. Once all assets and liabilities in the estate have been identified, prepare the inheritance tax return (IHT205) HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) require giving details of the estate’s assets and liabilities, estate accounts (recording precise details about the composition of the estate)
6. Prepare the legal statements for the personal representation and provide executors with guidance and instructions for checking the same;
7. Preparing all account closure and withdrawal forms ready for the executors to sign and send draft application for probate to executors for approval;
8. Meet with the executors either in person or via a conference call to go through the IHT205, estate accounts and legal statement;
9. Once IHT205 and legal statement for executors has been signed and returned to us we submit them to the Probate Registry with the court fee to apply for the Grant of Probate to the estate of the deceased ( the Grant);
10. Dealing with the Probate Registry and HMRC in respect of any queries, requisitions, further requests for information and calculations
11. When the Grant has been issued, send the Grant to the executor and all financial institutions identified in the estate accounts and the IHT205, collect in the assets and pay any liabilities from the money collected in;
12. Update the complete the final draft estate accounts with details about the estate and assets collected in and send them to the executors for approval.
13. Upon receiving approval to the estate accounts dealing with distributing the estate in accordance with the will including distributions to beneficiaries, obtaining receipts, finalising matters for the executors

In addition to the standard hourly rates, we have also outlined some of the disbursements (fees payable to third parties) that are likely to apply during the course of any administration. We believe that the following disbursements will be incurred routinely in almost all matters:

Services that are included in our fee:

Our fee given includes all attendances and correspondence with the executor’s to discuss the deceased’s estate and the estate administration, writing to all financial institutions where the deceased held assets and liabilities, arranging valuation of assets, placing statutory notices, notifying all of the beneficiaries of the will of what they are due to inherit, obtaining the beneficiaries identification, bank details and checking their bankruptcy status, preparing the inheritance tax return, preparing the legal statements for the personal representation preparing all account closure and withdrawal forms, submitting relevant documentation to the Probate Registry with the court fee to apply for the Grant of Probate, dealing with the Probate Registry and HMRC in respect of any queries, requisitions, further requests for information and calculations. Once the Grant has been issued, under our fee we will collect the assets, pay any liabilities from the money collected in and deal with distributing the estate in accordance with the will including distributions to beneficiaries, obtaining receipts, finalising matters for the executors.

Time Scale

The timescale in dealing with estate administrations varies between cases.

Where the estate is valued at less than £325,000 or less than £1,000,000 and where there is no inheritance tax to pay, these are dealt within 3 weeks from obtaining all asset information. The grant of probate or letters of administration can take up to 3 weeks from submission to be issued.

In all other cases where there is inheritance tax to pay or the full IHT400 needs to be completed, it can take up to 3 or 4 weeks from submitting the full tax information to  HMRC to receive the code (needed for probate) from them.

Once the code is received from HMRC, the grant of probate / letters of administration can take anything up to 3 months to be issued.

Collecting the assets then follows which can take up to 6 months depending on the assets. Property assets that need to be sold can take longer and are dependent upon securing a sale. Assets such as stocks and shares are usually dealt within 2-4 weeks.

Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes  4-12 months from the grant of probate assuming there are no further complications or disputes that arise.

Services that are not included in our fee:

Dealing with a sale or transfer of the property is not included.

There are potential other costs which can be incurred during the process of obtaining probate such as valuers, house clearance, auctioneers, genealogists, estate agents; these costs cannot be quoted and if any of the above work is undertaken on an hourly basis that our standard hourly rates are as follows:-