Most people choose to instruct us to provide a full Estate Administration service because it helps to reduce the burden on the Personal Representatives at what is a very difficult time. Our probate specialists will use their experience to ensure that matters are progressed quickly and sympathetically to relieve you of the stress of having to deal with what can be a bewildering number of Financial Institutions, Utilities, Government bodies and others.
What’s Involved?
In a typical Administration we will:-
- Obtain details of the assets and liabilities of the Estate
- Register the Death with various Institutions
- Notify the Beneficiaries of their entitlement under the Estate
- Prepare an Oath for submission to the Probate Registry
- Prepare an Inland Revenue Account
- Arrange for the payment of any Inheritance Tax due
- Apply for the necessary Grant of Representation
- Register the Grant of Representation with interested Parties
- Collect in the Assets of the Estate
- Ascertain the liabilities of the Estate and discharge these from the available assets
- Obtain any necessary clearances from UK Tax Authorities
- Prepare full Estate Accounts for approval by the Personal Representatives
- Effect distribution to the Beneficiaries
How much will it cost?
Without knowing what assets and liabilities are to be dealt with and the overall complexity of the Estate it’s not possible for us to give you anything other than a very rough guide here. This is because our charges will reflect the seniority of the solicitor that we need to assign to carry out the work and the time that they’ll have to devote to dealing with the matter. The average hourly charge rate for team members is £191.67 – we’ll give you full details of the charge rate of the person dealing with your matter when we write to you to confirm instructions.
Based on our experience we’ve set out below some examples which give an indication of range of fees that are likely but we’d recommend that you get in touch with us for a free preliminary telephone discussion so that we can give you a better idea. VAT – which the Government has set at 20% – is payable on our fees.
Example 1 – Straightforward matter with no tax liability eg Deceased owned their own home and had a couple of bank accounts and a pension – £2,000 – £4,500
Example 2 – A medium sized Estate with a small tax liability and a small number of beneficiaries – £4,000 – £7,500
Example 3 – A large Estate with significant tax liabilities, complex assets such as stocks and shares, multiple accounts, other investments, more than one residential property, commercial property, dealing with the registration of a Will Trust – £8,000– £15,000
The Estate will also be liable to pay court fees and other third party charges – the most common ones include Probate Registry fees, payments to HMRC and to the Department for Work & Pensions, charges made by banks and building societies, Registrars fees, charges of private pension providers, estate agency and conveyancers fees and independent financial advisers charges.
When the Firm or the Partners of the Firm are appointed as executors or when it is an unusually large and/or complex estate, our charges may also contain an element based on the value of the estate to reflect the importance of the matter and, consequently, the responsibility of the firm. In such cases, we may also charge 1% of the gross value of the estate (excluding the deceased’s residence where the rate is 0.5%).
How long will it take?
A straightforward matter with no Inheritance Tax may take about 6 months to a year. A medium sized Estate with an Inheritance Tax liability 8 months to 2 years and a complex matter upwards of 2 years.
To set up a meeting with one of our Wolverhampton based specialist probate solicitors or case workers call us on 01902 577774 or leave a message for us here or request a callback by filling out the form below.