Pricing – Wills, Lasting Power of Attorney, Probate and Estate Administration

Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)

• For one LPA we charge £525.00 plus VAT and the Court Registration Fee of £92. Total cost £722.00.
• For two (or more) LPAs being e.g. one Financial Decisions LPA and one Health and Care Decisions LPA for one person or two clients each wanting one, we charge £900 for the pair plus the Court Registration Fee of £92 per application. Total cost £1,264.00

For four LPAs being both types for two people, our pricing starts at £1,650.00 plus VAT, plus the Court Registration fees. Total cost £2,348.00

All work is carried out by and with a Solicitor.

Wills

• We charge £425 plus VAT for a basic single Will
• We charge £600 plus VAT for simple Mirror Wills for a married couple, civil partners or co-habitees.
• If the Wills include additional provisions, they are usually charged at £50 plus VAT per extra clause or provision
• Property Trust Mirror Wills, our pricing starts at £600 plus VAT for a single person or, £850 plus VAT the two.
• We charge £250 plus VAT to sever a joint tenancy in a property
• Lengthy and detailed Side Notes to accompany a Will are charged at £250 plus VAT.
• Complicated Wills are charged out at a time costing basis of £250 per hour plus VAT.

Again, all work is undertaken by and with a Solicitor

Probate and Estate Administration

Our Estate Administration fees:

We set out below some examples of typical costs in relation to Estate matters, there are various options available, from fixed fee to time costing and we are able to provide bespoke advice and personalised pricing where you have an enquiry outside of the examples below. Please contact us to arrange a consultation and receive a tailored price based on your requirements.

Examples of our charges for estates where the value of the estate is below the Nil Rate Band for Inheritance Tax prevailing at the time of death:

Obtaining Grant of Probate where there is a valid, undamaged Will appointing executors who are also the instructing parties and the estate is below the Nil Rate Band for Inheritance Tax, we offer this service starting at £1,450 plus VAT. This is to obtain Grant of Probate to the estate and includes our completing the necessary application stages and submitting the same to the Probate Registry. Timescales are subject to the Probate Registry timescales prevailing at the time of application.

Obtaining Grant of Letters of Administration where the application is able to proceed with a spouse only applicant or an only child applicant and the estate is below the Nil Rate Band for Inheritance Tax, we offer this service starting at £1,550 plus VAT. This is to obtain Grant of Letters of Administration to the estate and includes our completing the necessary application stages and submitting the same to the Probate Registry. Timescales are subject to the Probate Registry timescales prevailing at the time of application.

Obtaining Grant of Letters of Administration where there is more than one beneficiary on intestacy (which changes the nature of the application on intestacy) and the estate is below the Nil Rate Band for Inheritance Tax, we offer this service starting at £1,600 plus VAT. This is to obtain Grant of Letters of Administration to the estate and includes our completing the necessary application stages and submitting the same to the Probate Registry. Timescales are subject to the Probate Registry timescales prevailing at the time of application.

The above prices are where the instructing party provides us with accurate details of all estate assets and those assets combined are less than the Nil Rate Band for Inheritance Tax.

Applications for Grant of Probate or Grant of Letters of Administration where application first needs to be made to HMRC for exemptions or reliefs but still there is no tax to pay will usually start at £2,750 plus VAT.

Disbursements:

Disbursements are in addition to the above, the Probate Court charge an issue fee of £300, additional copies of the Grant are charged by the Court at £16 each. It is usual to obtain an additional copy per asset held so, for example, an estate with one house and one bank account would require two additional copies at £16 each.

Other disbursements might include HM Land Registry fees, advertising for creditors, bankruptcy search fees, special delivery fees etc. This list is not exhaustive, it is meant to provide an example of where disbursements usually arise during estate administration. The extent of this type of disbursement will depend upon the property value as HM Land Registry fees are on a scale of property value. Advertising fees will depend upon the price the advertiser charges at the time of the advert. Bankruptcy search fees are charged per head of beneficiary and will be the prevailing fee at the time the search is made.

Partial or full estate administration:

Partial or full administration of an estate will start at the prices stated above to obtain the Grant, other work over and above such as ascertaining the extent of estate assets and date of death balances, upon issue of Grant then submitting the same to asset holders, dealing with transfer or encashment of estate assets, settling estate liabilities etc will all be charged by the hour, currently at the rate of £250 plus VAT per hour.

Straight forward estates, such as an estate with a house and two bank accounts collectively less than the Nil Rate Band for Inheritance Tax purposes with say two executors and two beneficiaries (without dispute) may be in the region of £1,000 plus VAT over and above the Grant application fees stated above in respect of estate administration fees. This would involve us writing to the banks, completing their withdrawal or closing procedure and submitting the Grant of Representation to them. Ultimately, distributing the net estate to the beneficiaries in the proportions set out in the Will or in accordance with Intestacy rules. Conveyancing fees are separate and in addition so, where a house or other land or buildings are being sold from an estate then, conveyancing charges will be in addition to the charges stated above.

The value of an estate does not necessarily equate to its simplicity, for example, an estate with a date of death value of £200,000 but made up from several shareholdings and several bank accounts, will take more time and as such incur more cost than the an estate of the same value but with £200,000 in one or two bank accounts. Ten differing banks, building societies, shareholdings etc will likely take between three – five hours of time whereas, the estate with two bank accounts will likely take one to two hours of time. In all cases, this time is in addition to the Grant application fees stated above.

This may also equate to an estate made up from a house of £190,000 and one bank account of £10,000, in this example, there will be our fees above for obtaining the Grant, separately and in addition conveyancing fees for selling the property, the remaining bank account will likely be less than one hour time to administer. Therefore, this example of a house and a bank account may amount to less time and fees than the estate with ten different asset holders.

Inheritance Tax:

Estates above the Nil Rate Band for Inheritance Tax will all be charged by the hour, currently at the rate of £250 plus VAT per hour. We will obtain date of death figures, complete the necessary Inland Revenue tax returns and submit to the Inland Revenue which must take place before application is made to the Probate Registry. Work of this nature is on a pure hourly basis and will depend upon the number of assets held, the complexity of those assets, the degree of correspondence required with asset holders to obtain date of death figures and dealing with applying for any exemptions or reliefs which may be available to the estate. Estates requiring Inheritance Tax returns will likely start at five hours of time and this will be in addition to the Grant application fees stated above.

Inheritance Tax charges will be calculated in accordance with the rules, rates, reliefs and exemptions prevailing at the time.

As stated, we are able to provide bespoke advice and personalised pricing where you have an enquiry outside of the examples provided. Please contact us to arrange a consultation and receive a tailored price based on your requirements.

Disputes:

Where a dispute has arisen with any third party eg another person (beneficiary or not) or an authority such as Local Authority, Tax office, creditor of an estate etc then this work will be charged by the hour, currently at the rate of £250 plus VAT per hour. The nature of this work is varied, we will discuss this with you and once you have provided details of the situation then, we will be able to provide an estimate of time likely to be incurred. Dealing with any dispute will be in addition to all time stated above where we are also instructed in other aspects of the estate administration.