Estate Administration Work:

If commissioning a solicitor to deal with estate administration work (which means dealing with the assets of a deceased person), you have an initial choice between:

• Commissioning a “full service” which means you ask us to process all the estate administration work including obtaining a “Grant of Representation” (which is a “Grant of Probate” if there is a will and a “Grant of Letters of Administration” if there isn’t), processing all estate assets and making distributions to beneficiaries.
• Commissioning a “reduced service” by asking us to prepare all paperwork to obtain a “Grant of Representation”, leaving you to deal with routine estate administration work (with facility for any technical points to be referred back to us).

More details about the two alternatives appear in sections A and B below.

A  “Full Service”

Fees for “full service” estate administration work are based on the value of the estate assets plus an hourly time charge for solicitor’s time. Each case is individual, every estate is different so the exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if there is one beneficiary and no residential property, costs will be at the lower end. If there are multiple beneficiaries, a residential property and multiple bank accounts, costs will be at the higher end. An estimate would be provided based on the individual estate and fees will not be expected to be paid until the estimate has been approved by the clients, who are the executors or administrators of the estate. So the “case study” below is for illustrative purposes only.

Included in our fee will be:

• Providing you with an experienced probate solicitor to work on your matter
• Identifying the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
• Accurately identifying the type of Probate application you will require
• Obtaining the relevant documents and information required to make that application
• Completing the Probate application paperwork and the relevant HMRC compliance forms and computing any Inheritance Tax due on the estate and dealing with any HMRC queries
• Making the application to the Probate Registry on your behalf
• Obtaining the Grant of Representation
• Collecting and distributing estate assets

Dealing with the sale of any property comprised in an estate is not included and would be billed separately – see the separate information about residential conveyancing work.

Case Study, Client H: This was a “full service case” on a relatively straight forward matter. A husband who jointly owned a house with his wife, and had several bank accounts and had his own investments worth about £75,000, died leaving a valid will appointing his wife as executrix and sole beneficiary. There was no dispute within the family about the will and no inheritance tax to pay so the HMRC compliance paperwork was limited. Our charge was: £2945 (+VAT). Hours of solicitors taken to deal with the entire estate administration: 18.25. Price charged per hour: £140 (+VAT) (rates correct at November 2018). This estate administration took 7 months.

‘Disbursements’ are amounts payable to third parties and which are not part of our fee. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. The main example is the fee paid to the Probate Registry to obtain the Grant of Representation.  Current fee. Other disbursements may include:

• Swearing of the oath (charged per executor) – a nominal disbursement (the odd tenner) is payable for swearing any oaths which are part of the process.
• Placing a notice in The London Gazette – depending on the circumstances of the estate, formal notices may need to be inserted in the London Gazette (and maybe also in a local newspaper if a property is comprised in the estate) to find out if there are unknown creditors of the estate.  For notices in local newspapers, please look on their websites for up-to-date prices and click on the link to The London Gazette above.

B  “Reduced Service”

Some clients seek to reduce estate administration costs by asking us to prepare the paperwork necessary to obtain a Grant of Representation, leaving other and more routine estate administration work to be done by the family (with the facility for any technical points to be referred back to us). We are happy for work to be commissioned on this basis and our fee is based on anticipated solicitor time expended at an hourly rate and the value of estate assets. We are happy to estimate our fees based on the exact circumstance of the estate before work commences.

Case Study, Client E: A husband appointed his sons as executors but his widow was beneficiary. He jointly owned two residential properties and there were stocks and shares and other investments. Simplified inheritance tax paperwork was needed there being no tax due on the estate. The fee for obtaining the Grant of Probate including completion of Inheritance Tax Compliance paperwork was £1500 (+VAT) and the time taken to obtain the Grant of Probate was 2 months after the work was commissioned.