Probate

Our Service

We are a niche practice providing a high level of specialism and we are one of the few practices in South London with membership of both ACTAPS (Association of Contentious Trust And Probate Specialists) and STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners).

Once we are instructed, you will be assigned a dedicated solicitor who is highly experienced in this complex area who will provide you with a personal service. Senior Partner, Robyn Lynch is the lead solicitor in relation to probate matters.

• Robyn Lynch has over 46 years of experience as a solicitor and is a member of the following organisations:
  • Associate Member the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists
  • Member of The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners
  • Member of the End of Life Elderly Client Care and Bereavement Law Group

Our solicitors deal with every aspect of estate administration from start to finish.

We offer a free initial 30 minute consultation where we will discuss your individual requirements. This will give us an opportunity to understand your needs so that we may tailor our service to you.

Below is an indication of the work involved for non-contentious probate work. For contentious probate we recommend that you get in touch with us to discuss your specific circumstances.

Non – Contentious Probate

Non-contentious probate work usually includes the following stages:

• Registering the death with the relevant Authorities.
• Assessing the value of the Estate including all assets and liabilities and identifying any potential issues.
• Preparing estate accounts.
• Determining whether inheritance tax is payable and preparing the appropriate Inland Revenue Account.
• Applying for a Grant of Representation either a Grant of Probate (where there is a Will) or a Grant of Letters of Administration (where there is no Will).
• Sending copies of the Grant to the relevant financial institutions in order to collect in the estate monies to pay the debts and any legacies under the Will.
• Obtaining confirmation from the Inland Revenue that no further income tax or inheritance tax is due.
• Finalising the Estate Accounts for the executors and residuary beneficiaries’ approval and distributing the residue to the residuary beneficiaries.
• Provision of Estate Income (R185) forms.

 

Our Fees

Should you proceed to instruct us after our free initial 30 minute consultation our fees are thereafter charged on an hourly rate basis.

At the outset of the matter we will provide our best estimate of fees based on the information provided by you. The fee estimate is determined by how much work is likely to be required to complete the estate administration.

The hourly rate applied depends upon the solicitor dealing with your matter.

• Our Senior Partner rate is £300 per hour plus VAT and
• Our Solicitor rate is £180 per hour plus VAT

The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if there are multiple beneficiaries, a property and multiple bank accounts the costs are likely to be higher than an estate with only one beneficiary and limited assets.

By way of an example, a straightforward estate is likely to attract a fee in the region of £1000 – £2000 plus VAT for estates where:

• There is a valid will

• There is no more than one property

• There are no more than 5 bank or building society accounts

• There are no other intangible or digital assets

• There are no more than 5 UK beneficiaries

• There are no overseas assets

• 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

• There is no family or any other ongoing trust
• The testators tax affairs are settled to the end of the last tax year before death

Potential additional costs

If an estate has any of the following features it is likely to be more complex than a straightforward matter and therefore likely to result in more time being spent of the issues. The costs are likely to be higher in matters where:

• There is no will
• Professional executors are appointed
• The estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds)
• The estate includes foreign assets
• The estate includes a family or other ongoing trust
• The estate is taxable and requires the submission of a full inheritance tax account.
• The testator is non-UK domicile
• Any one or more of the beneficiaries are non-UK domicile
• There is more than one property
• Property is unregistered
• The property is not local
• The estate comprises a business
• The estate includes agricultural
• Where property and/or land is subject to an existing tenancy.
• There are charitable beneficiaries
• There are intangible or digital assets
• There are disputes between the beneficiaries on division of assets.
• The are claims against the estate
• The estate is insolvent

We will provide you with a more accurate estimate once we have more information regarding the nature of the estate.

Disbursements

These are additional expenses 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.

Some of the most common types of disbursements in probate matters are as follows:

Estate Administration
Probate application fee	£155 plus £1 for each additional sealed office copy of the Grant of Probate (usually one per asset)
Swearing of the oath	£5 Swearing of the oath (per executor) plus £2 for each additional exhibit (i.e. for an Oath and a Will the oath swear fee will be £7)
Bankruptcy- Land Charges Department searches	£2 per beneficiary
Statutory Advertisement	Between £62 and £200 plus VAT (The London Gazette – and a local newspaper) to protect against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
Land Registry fees	(for dealing with the sale or transfer of property) *
File Archiving Fee	£40 plus VAT

*Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included within our probate service. We will provide you with a separate estimate should you require this service. Please see our conveyancing section relating to the sale of a property.

How long will this take?

On average, straightforward estates are dealt with within 12 – 18 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 4-6 months. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 1-6 months. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes a further 3-4 months to allow formal clearance of the tax position for the period of administration and dependant on any delay as a result of a backlog at HM Revenue & Customs.

Please do get in touch with us for a free 30 minute consultation and we will be happy to discuss your individual needs.

Kindly note that VAT is currently payable at 20%