Price Guide
for Probate work
Our fees for obtaining the Grant of Probate.
These fees are dependent upon the valuation of assets being supplied and the expertise of the legal professional. If we need to obtain date of death valuations, a separate quote is required.
Fixed Fee of £1,750 – £2,750 plus VAT – Simple Fixed Fee Probate
Fixed Fee of £2,100 – £3,500 plus VAT – Probate with a claim for predeceased spouses nil rate band.
Fixed Fee of £3,500 – £5,500 plus VAT – Probate where IHT 400 required to claim all exemptions against inheritance tax.
The above fees are all dependent upon the valuations of assets being supplied. Where we need to date of death valuations a separate quote is required. In these circumstances, we would be acting for you in relation to administering the estate.
Probate fees charged by the government are subject to change and vary according to the size of the estate.
Our fees for the full administration of the estate
Depending on the nature of the instructions we offer two fee options as follows:
Option 1: Applying a 0.75% percentage of the value of the deceased’s property and 1.5%for the gross value of the remaining assets in the estate; or
Option 2: Working on a time spent basis during which all meetings, telephone calls, emails, letters, drafting and research is accurately recorded and billed for, based on the hourly rate of the legal professional with conduct of the matter.
This quote is for estates where:
- There is a valid will
- There is no more than one property
- There are no more than 4 bank or building society accounts
- There are no other intangible assets
- There are 1-4 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
The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances and complexity 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 are able to act on your behalf in dealing with all matters relating to the administration of the estate whether that means paying the utilities of the property, or dealing with distributing funds between beneficiaries. Feel free to contact us to discuss how we can assist you.
Disbursements included in this fee:
- Probate application fee of £273 plus £1.50 for each copy of the grant of Probate
- Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary)
- £70 – £100 Post in The London Gazette – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
- £120 Post in a Local Newspaper – This also helps to protect against unexpected claims.
*NB – please note all prices quoted are subject to VAT @ 20%.
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 asset usually.
- Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included.
How long will this take?
Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 3-7 months. Collecting assets then follows, which can take a further 6-9 months. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 2-4 weeks.
Use our brief form to provide us with a few relevant details – one of our experienced solicitors will get in touch.