For the provision of non-contentious (uncontested) probate and estate administration services to individuals, namely the collection and distribution of assets belonging to a person following their death, and where:

• All of the assets are within the UK, and

• The matters are not contested

This firm’srange of costs (with negotiable fixed fees available for additional work, whether that be piecemeal or otherwise) for both testate (where the deceased left a Will) and intestate (the deceased left no Will) and taxable (Inheritance Tax, more commonly known as IHT) and non-taxable estates are:

Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets

We anticipate that this will take between ten and twenty hours work at £180 - £200 per hour. The total costs estimated will therefore be in the region of £1,800 - £4,000

(plus VAT at 20%).

The exact cost of the work in applying for the Grant and administering the estate 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, a property and multiple bank accounts, costs will be at the higher end.

We can or will handle the full process for you, should you require us to, but may handle such parts of the process as you may wish, depending upon individual circumstances. This quote is for estates where:

• There is a valid Will
• There is no more than one property
• There are no more than five bank or building society accounts
• There are no other intangible assets
• There are two to five beneficiaries
• There are no disputes between beneficiaries on the division of the assets under the Will. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to a significant increase in costs
• There is no Inheritance Tax payable and the executors do not need to submit a full account (the IHT400 form and its accompanying schedules) to HMRC

• There are no claims made by disappointed beneficiaries or non-beneficiaries against the estate

We will handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. Typically such disbursements (costs or expenses that are payable to third parties, such as the Probate Registry or HMRC)and which are not included within the above range of costs will include:

• Probate application fee of (currently) £155 and 50 pence for each further copy of the sealed Grant
• £5 Swearing of the Oath (per executor) plus £2 for each document (e.g. a Will and a Codicil will attract an additional £4 fee)
• Bankruptcy- only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary)

• £300.18 to post Deceased Estates notices in The London Gazette and in a Local Newspaper, to protect against unexpected claims from unknown creditors and unexpected claims.

Within the range of these costs, we will:

• Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor to work on your matter
• Identify the legally appointed executors (where there is a Will) or administrators (where there is noWill) and beneficiaries
• Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
• Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application that you require
• Complete the Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms
• Draft a legal oath for you to swear
• Make the application to the Probate Registry on your behalf
• Obtain the Grant of Probate and send copies to you 

• Collect and distribute all of the assets within the estate

Potential additional costs

If there is no Will or the estate consists of any share holdings (such as stocks and bonds) there are 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.

Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included within the above range of costs.

How long will this take?

On average, estates that fall within this range are or can be dealt with within three to six months. Typically, obtaining the Grant of Probate takes two to four weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between four to twelve weeks, depending upon the requirements to release the asset in question. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets (once the estate accounts have been approved), which normally takes two to four weeks.