Probate

Probate is usually required when a person passes away and the deceased person's assets and liabilities have to be dealt with. Our guide to costs below applies where there is no dispute between any parties or a dispute or claim against the estate of the deceased or the assets within the Estate of the deceased. The guide to costs does not take into account the sale or transfer of any property within the Estate.

Our charges for Probate vary due to the individual circumstances of each Estate, and our fees are charged on an hourly basis at the current rate of £305 per hour plus VAT.

Probate can be divided into two parts:

1. Pre-Grant: Work that is carried up to and including getting the grant of probate, which entails getting information about the composition of the Estate the value of the assets and liabilities and the beneficiaries of that Estate. In many cases that we deal with, the range of costs is:

(a) for a simple Estate, where there are a few assets and a couple of beneficiaries and the estate will not have to pay inheritance tax, we would estimate our charges at £950 plus VAT which would include preparing and submitting the Inheritance Tax forms to the Revenue

(b) for more complicated Estates, where there are several beneficiaries, various assets of different composition, some of which may be of high value and inheritance tax is payable, we would estimate our charges at £3,500 plus VAT which would include preparing and submitting the Inheritance Tax forms to the Revenue

1. Post-Grant: Work where the assets are collected, sold if necessary, distributing money or assets to beneficiaries, paying liabilities, finalising the Estate Account, tax returns are made and tax paid:
   
   (a) for a simple Estate such as the one mentioned above, the charge is likely to be £1800 plus VAT

   (b) for the more complicated Estates such as the one mentioned above, the charges are likely to be £3500 plus VAT
   

   In addition to our fees, there are certain third party payments (disbursements) which are likely to be incurred and most usually they include the following:

1. Placing notices in newspapers and the London Gazette. The cost of this disbursement is dependent of the charge of the provider of the advertisement.

2. Court fees. Currently fixed by Government at £155.00 plus £5.00 for each copy of the Grant.

3. Valuation fees for valuing property and other assets. The cost varies and will be notified to you in advance of being incurred

4. Where Inheritance Tax or any other taxes are payable by the Estate we may instruct an Accountant to prepare tax returns and the fees of the accountants will vary between £400 and £800 plus VAT.

Sometimes, further disbursements may have to be incurred which cannot be anticipated at the outset and should this be the case then you will be advised before such a charge is incurred. Please remember that where Inheritance Tax or other taxes are payable, these are payable in addition to the costs and disbursements. The amount of the Inheritance Tax or other taxes payable by the Estate has to be calculated depending on the nature of the assets and the value. The amount payable will be notified to you when known.

In the case of a simple Estate, it is reasonable to say that the affairs of the Estate will be completed in 8 to 10 months, but for the more complicated Estates, it can take longer, especially when beneficiaries have to be traced or assets such as properties have to be sold or where trusts have to be set up. In such cases, we would suggest a period of 12 to 18 months.

Wills

Everyone should make a Will. Your Will can set out who is going to manage your property and financial affairs and who gets what of your assets once you have passed away.

For most couples, a Will will usually provide for the surviving partner to inherit everything and then to your children or other people.

In some cases, the Will have to cover a situation where there may be children of a previous relationship and they have to be provided for as well as the current Partner’s need. This may require a more complicated Will giving the remaining partner the right to live in the house for his/her life.

A trust may be needed in a Will to look after the needs of minor children and appointing a guardian to look after those children. Thought has to be given as to who it should be the Guardian(s) and the trustees looking after the trust assets for the minor children.

These are the more common examples of what a Will may have to cover.

Our charges depend on the nature of the very different needs in a Will. Discussions and advice needs to be given. Wills have to be drafted and signed. The time spent will govern our charges. It may assist you to know that our charge for:

1. a simple straight-forward Will dealing with a married couple or a couple in a civil partnership’s Will leaving everything to each other and then to their adult children would be £220.00 plus VAT a Will; £395.00 plus VAT if it’s a “Mirror” Will as opposed to a “Mutual” Will

2. a Will for a couple where there is a right for the surviving Partner to live in the home for life and a gift after that of the assets to adult children would be £395 plus VAT a Will; £600.00 plus VAT if it’s a “Mirror” Will as opposed to a “Mutual” Will

3. a Will for a non-cohabiting individual who has not been previously married or in a civil partnership with no children whose Will leaves an uncomplicated Estate that is not subject to Inheritance Tax would cost £220.00 plus VAT

4. a Will having several beneficiaries including minor children and where there are several assets such two homes, several bank and building society accounts where there is a trust for the surviving Partner to have a right to live in the home for life will attract a charge of £850 plus VAT a Will; £1,500 plus VAT for a “Mirror” Will as opposed to a “Mutual” Will.

Our charges would not cover advice on Inheritance Tax or the creation of trusts.

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA)

A Lasting Power of Attorney is a document that allows you to appoint someone else to manage your affairs while you are alive but unable to manage your affairs yourself. There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney:

• Manage your financial and property affairs (Financial Decisions LPA) and/or
• Manage your personal welfare needs (Help and Care LPA)

Making either one or both of the LPA’s should be part of your planning for the future. Your Will deals with your affairs after you have passed away; similarly, LPA’s deal with your affairs during your life-time.

Your Attorney or Attorneys can be anybody over 18 years of age who has mental capacity and is not excluded by the regulations from being an Attorney. Most people will appoint family members. That is probably the best starting point. You can have more than one Attorney and you can even decide what role they play by reference to the LPA.

Making an LPA is not complicated but it does require you to think beforehand about what kind of LPA you want and what its powers are going to be and who your Attorney(s) are to be. We are here to help you focus on the issues that you need to think about in relation to LPA’s.

Our charge is £450 plus VAT for each Power of Attorney that you make and it includes discussing and agreeing what the Power should be, preparing the LPA and then assisting you in completing the document. Our charge also includes sending the Power to the Court of Protection for registration. The Court fee is fixed by Government and it is £82.00 for each Power that you wish to register.