Probate
Losing a loved one is always a very traumatic experience. This trauma is often compounded by the need to administer their estate, which can often be complicated, time-consuming, and involve highly charged emotions.
Often, the thought of instructing a Solicitor at this stage can itself be equally daunting.
At Wadsworths, we pride ourselves at being able to help to take the stress of administering the Estate off the shoulders of our clients. We offer a service, entirely bespoke to those instructing us, ensuring that we neither do too much, nor too little towards the administration of an estate. We can act either just to obtain the Grant of Probate, just to deal with the financial matters or handling the entire estate.
We are able to offer a fixed fee, giving clients peace of mind that they will not be hit with a large unexpected bill at the conclusion of the matter.
Clients are often very surprised at how reasonable the costs of administering an estate are, and feel that they represent excellent value for money for the service involved.
We offer a free, no obligation half hour consultation to discuss your particular needs – and to give you general advice on whether you need the input of a Solicitor, and if so what the likely fees would be.
Full Administration of Estate
It is common for Wadsworths Solicitor to assist an Executor in administering every aspect of a person’s estate. This would include making, initial enquiries with banks, building societies and other third parties associated with the deceased. We would also assist the Executor in obtaining a Grant of Probate and then distributing the deceased’s assets as per the terms of their Will or if they don’t have a valid Will in line with the Intestacy Provisions of England and Wales.
On average this entire process takes between 16 and 50 hours’ work at an average of £200 per hour, plus VAT.
Total costs estimated at £3,500 to £10,000 plus VAT.
The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter.
The estimate given is for estates where:-
- There is a valid Will
- All Executors are in agreement
- There is a single property
- There is no inheritance tax payable and the Executors do not need to submit an Inheritance Tax Account to HMRC
- There are no claims made against the estate
We anticipate that the following disbursements (payments to others) will be payable on a typical estate:
- Probate application fee of £273 plus £1.50 per copy Grant required (no VAT charged)
- Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary) (no VAT charged)
- £80-200 (inc VAT) Statutory Notices to creditors (these protect against unexplained claims from unknown creditors)
The fee quoted above may be increased if it is found that the estate contains any of the following:
- If there is no Will
- If the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds)
- If the estate consists of investments
- If there are a higher number of beneficiaries (or the whereabouts of a beneficiary is unknown)
- If there are multiple properties or foreign assets
- If the deceased made substantial lifetime gifts or had an interest in a trust
- If the Will contains a trust
We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.
TIMESCALES
On average, simple estates that do not include any of the additional problems outlined above can be dealt with within 6 -12 months.
It is common for a Grant of Probate to be received within 8 – 14 weeks after we have obtained all of the necessary information.
We strive to have liquid assets collected within 6 – 10 weeks of the Grant being obtained.
The distribution of the estate after approval of the estate accounts generally takes 2-3 weeks.
Obtaining a Grant of Probate
Wadsworths Solicitors offer a fixed-fee service where we obtain the Grant of Probate on behalf of an executor.
Once the Executor has provided us with the relevant information we can then prepare the Inheritance Tax return and Legal Statement that will be sent to the Probate Registry.
The Executor then undertakes the process of collecting in and distributing the assets.
Our fees start at £2,000 plus VAT and depend upon which HMRC forms need to be completed and whether there is any Inheritance Tax payable.
HMRC Form IHT205 only
Cost guide of:
• £2,000 plus VAT.
• Value of estate is less than £325,000 or less than Lim and spouse/charity exemption applies.
HMRC Forms IHT205 & IHT2l7
Cost guide of:
• Grant of Probate with IHT205 starting from £2,000 plus VAT.
• Grant of Probate with IHT217 starting from £2,500 plus VAT.
• Value of estate is less than £650,000 and 100% of Inheritance Tax Nil Rate Band of first spouse is available to transfer.
HMRC Inheritance Tax Account IHT400 (all other scenarios)
Cost guide of:
• Starting from £3,000 plus VAT (where no tax is payable) and from £4,000 plus VAT (where IHT is payable).
Disbursements (payments to others) also payable:
Cost guide of:
• Probate application fee of £273 plus £1.50 per copy Grant required (no VAT charged)
Timescales
Obtaining the Grant of Probate typically takes 8 – 14 weeks.
If an Inheritance Tax Account IHT400 is required and/or Inheritance Tax is payable, we will need to obtain clearance from HMRC before our application can be sent to the Probate Registry, this will add a further 4 – 6 weeks to the timescale.
Meet Our Probate Team
The department is supervised by Michael Wadsworth (Director).
Victoria Wadsworth
Rachel Ison
Rachel Alidieres (nee McLarney)
Sarah Mahoney
Lily Franklin
Emma Brown
Sharon Lowndes
Lisa Cunningham
Jade Brown
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