Estate Administration Costs

Our Estate Administration team are often complimented on their compassionate, efficient and cost effective estate administration services and we are pleased to be able to provide a comprehensive service due to the strength and depth of our team.

We pride ourselves on being transparent with our probate and estate administration fees from the very outset of the matter. An Estate Administration can take various forms from merely applying for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration based on information supplied, or dealing with the Estate in its entirety.

When dealing with a full Estate Administration we would:

• Take responsibility for notifying all of those organisations that the deceased held assets with to include banks, investment managers, share registrars etc.
• Deal with any liabilities to include settling funeral accounts, arranging for utilities to be transferred and notifying home insurers.
• Deal with the deceased’s Income Tax position to date of death, tax for the administration period and completing the necessary Inheritance Tax papers.  Our specialist Tax Advisers are on hand to support you with this complex area of estate administration.
• Liaise with Executors and Beneficiaries throughout ensuring all parties never feel as though they need to chase us for progress.

Estate Administration Pricing

Estimating the cost for dealing with a full Estate Administration is difficult and will always depend on the circumstances of each individual matter. For example, a deceased may have a number of investments, shareholdings and bank accounts and may have left the estate to multiple beneficiaries. This of course is likely to take more time to deal with than an Estate where there may be one bank account, a property and one beneficiary.

You can be assured that we will do our upmost to keep our costs to a minimum. Unlike most, we do not charge a percentage value based on the size of the estate. We charge purely on time with the appropriate member of our Probate and Estate Administration team undertaking certain tasks. For example, our Paralegals would often deal with the utilities as their hourly rate would be significantly less than one of our Partners who would not need to be involved.

We would also encourage Executors to undertake as much of the work as possible where we see fit.

The current hourly rates (exclusive of VAT at 20%) for our team members are as follows:

• Gareth Horner – £320
• Ashley Partridge – £320
• Sharon Hawkes – £280
• Hannah Goodeve – £280
• Bethan Creasey – £280
• Clare Datta – £260
• Jo Leonard – £260
• Kirsty Gazzard – £220
• Andrew Marshall – £220

As mentioned, we would provide an estimate of costs plus VAT at 20% and disbursements once we have established the extent of the Estate and have an idea of the amount of work that will be required.

Costs often fall into the following categories:

• £3,000 – £5,000 – Minimal assets and beneficiaries
• £5,000 – £7,000 – A number of assets, liabilities but no IHT liability
• £7,000 – £10,000 – Potential Inheritance Tax Liability, or exempt due to reliefs
• £10,000 – £15,000 – Significant assets, likely to be chargeable to Inheritance Tax
• £15,000 plus – Significant assets and significant Inheritance Tax liability

Disbursements are difficult to establish without full knowledge of the estate, however we would expect the following:

• Probate Court Fee – £273
• Statutory Advertisements – Variable
• Bankruptcy Search – £2 per beneficiary

We would urge you to contact a member of our Probate and Estate Administration team to discuss the likely Estate Administration fees for the estate you are managing.

Grant Only Probate

We are often advised merely to obtain a Grant of Probate based on information supplied and this can be dealt with under a fixed fee on request.  Depending on the estate and the complexity of the instructions this can range from between £1,250 to £2,000 plus VAT at 20%.  However, we are happy to have a brief initial discussion to ascertain the amount of work required and provide you with an accurate fee.

Timescales

The time it takes to administer an Estate will vary depending on numerous factors including how quickly we receive the information from you, whether a Will can be found, whether Inheritance Tax is due, or any external delays on applying for and receiving the Grant of Probate. Generally, we would expect to receive a Grant of Probate within 6-8 weeks.

We would often estimate that a straightforward estate which included a property would take approximately 6-9 months to complete.

Who will deal with my matter

If you have any questions relating to probate and estate administration, or you would like to discuss your situation with one of our Probate and Estate Administration Solicitors, do contact us at your local office.