Probate & Estate Administration

This is an official document issued by the Court that gives the executor (or executors) named in the Will the legal authority to deal with a person’s estate. Without a Grant, many financial institutions or HM Land Registry may not allow the executors to deal with the estate assets.

Not always. It depends on the value of the estate, the type of assets and how they were held.  We can help you to quickly check whether a Grant is needed in your situation.

Our costs for assisting you with obtaining a Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration for an intestate estate) and administering an estate will vary depending on the complexity of each estate, the assets and liabilities comprised within it and how much work you wish us to carry out for you.

When we speak to you initially, we will provide you with an estimate of our likely fees based on the information you have provided. Once we have met with you and reviewed all the documents and elements of the estate, we will be able to give you a more accurate estimate of our costs.  As a guide, we would generally expect the costs to be between 2% to 3.5% plus VAT of the gross value of the assets in the estate.

We have set out below some examples of various scenarios which will provide you with an indication of the costs for the different ways we can help you.

Please be aware these are illustrative costs only and we will provide you with a more tailored estimate once we have received all the relevant facts relating to the estate from you.

Obtaining the Grant only - we will complete the application to obtain the Grant, and you will handle the estate administration yourself after the Grant has been issued:

• Exempt estates where no inheritance tax is payable and it is not necessary to report in full to HMRC: from £2,500 to £3,500 plus VAT

• Estates where no inheritance tax is payable, but it is necessary to report in full to HMRC: from £4,000 to £6,500 plus VAT

• Estates where inheritance tax is payable and an inheritance tax account must be sent to HMRC: from £4,500 to £8,000 plus VAT

Obtaining the Grant and administering the estate – we will complete the whole process for you:

• Small exempt estates where no inheritance tax is payable and it is not necessary to report in full to HMRC: from £4,000 to £6,500 plus VAT

• Medium to large exempt estates where no inheritance tax is payable and it is not necessary to report in full to HMRC: from £4,000 to £8,000 plus VAT

• Estates where inheritance tax is payable and it is necessary to report in full to HMRC: from £8,000 plus VAT

If you have identified all the assets and liabilities and have obtained the required valuations yourself, some of these costs may be reduced.

Please bear in mind that there are many factors which may arise when dealing with an estate that will cause the costs shown above to increase above these estimates (such as foreign assets, multiple properties, disputes between beneficiaries, overseas domicile, lifetime gifting, numerous beneficiaries and business or farming assets). If any of these or other complicating factors exist, we will discuss with you the impact of these on our fees at the time.

In addition to our costs, the Probate Registry will charge an application fee of £300 for the Grant and an extra £1.50 for each copy of the Grant.

It may also be necessary to place Statutory Notices in local papers and the London Gazette to protect the personal representatives. The cost for placing these varies, but is generally between £100 to £300 plus VAT.

We may also need to pay third parties such as share registrars to deal with certain assets and the identification of beneficiaries.

All the above costs will be payable from the estate, but if funds are not available at the relevant time, we may need to ask the executors to provide monies on account of such costs.

The timeframe can vary depending on the components of  each estate, but in most cases, if you instruct us shortly after your loved one has passed away and we are able to identify and value the assets and liabilities without delay, then we estimate it will take around 6 to 9 months after someone has passed away to obtain the Grant. In simple estates where no inheritance tax is due, the process could take less time.

After the Grant has been obtained, it can take several months or even years to deal with the assets, pay the liabilities and expenses, pay any legacies due, report and pay any income and capital gains tax, prepare estate accounts, identify the beneficiaries and make distributions to them.

Even simple estates are likely to take at least a year to be completed, and more complex ones can take much longer to administer.

Once we have all the details of the estate from you, then we will give you an indication of how long we think the estate may take to administer and we will keep you updated throughout.

If your loved one didn’t leave a Will, the estate is handled under the rules of intestacy. This is a legal framework that sets out who can inherit. The rules are complex and unfortunately applying them means the estate may be distributed in a way that won’t always reflect what your loved one would have wanted. The intestacy rules may also result in inheritance tax falling due which could have been avoided with a well drafted Will.

The rules also specify who can administer the estate and apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration. This will usually be a close family member such as a spouse, civil partner or children.

We can help you to navigate the complicated intestacy rules.

If inheritance tax is due on the estate, then this must be paid before the Court will issue the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration. To avoid paying interest on inheritance tax, executors must pay the full amount before the payment deadline that applies after your loved one has passed away.

It can be paid directly to HMRC from assets held by the banks or other financial institutions on completion of the correct forms, if there are sufficient funds.

On certain types of assets, it may be possible to pay the inheritance tax in instalments.

We can calculate whether or not inheritance tax is payable, guide you through how and when this will need to be paid, and arrange payment in a timely manner from estate assets.

Estates that include assets such as a family business, shares in a private company or agricultural land and buildings can be more complex to manage. These types of assets often require specialist valuations and may qualify for valuable tax reliefs. These reliefs can make a huge difference to the payment of inheritance tax on the estate, but the rules are detailed and need careful handling. We are experienced in dealing with these types of assets and reliefs and we work closely with specialist valuers and accountants to make sure everything is assessed properly, the reliefs are claimed where available, and the estate is administered in line with both the law and your loved one’s wishes.

Rest assured, we will guide you through the process step by step and ensure nothing is overlooked.