Probate Pricing

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About Our Prices

We understand how important it is for our clients to know exactly how much our services are going to cost from the outset. That’s why we do our best to provide fixed prices for our probate services wherever possible.

If one of our fixed fee options isn’t quite right for you, don’t worry. We can either try to agree a bespoke fixed fee service at the outset based on your individual requirements or you can use our hourly rate service.

Where applicable, VAT is charged at a rate of 20% unless specifically stated.

An administrative fee associated with the cost of storage of papers applies on each file at £40 + £8 vat = £48.

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Our Probate And Estate Administration Fees

We know that no two estates are the same. We also understand that some clients will be prepared to deal with some of the administration themselves, whereas others will want to put everything in our hands. Therefore, we aim to tailor our services to suit your needs.

You can choose from the following fixed fee options. If your needs don’t quite fit one of our services, don’t worry. Just let us know and we will be happy to discuss the estate with you and make any necessary adjustments to the services and costs.

Grant-Only Service

£900 + VAT

This option is suitable for clients who are happy to do the majority of the estate administration themselves. We will only be involved in preparing the probate application papers for you, submitting the application to the Probate Registry and dealing with any general enquiries the Probate Registry make.

What is included in this service:

An initial face to face consultation with a specialist probate solicitor
Drafting the Oath for you to swear
Preparation of the Inheritance Tax Return IHT205
Obtaining the Grant of Representation (Probate or Letters of Administration) from the Probate Registry
Subscription to our newsletter

What is not included in this service*:

Preparation of Inheritance Tax Return IHT400 (required where an IHT205 cannot be used)
Preparation of Inheritance Tax form IHT217 where it is necessary to transfer a nil rate band
Preparing renunciations or powers of attorney relating to the estate
Advice relating to the actual administration of the estate
Contacting any third parties, such as banks, government departments or beneficiaries
Collecting in or distributing the estate
The transfer or sale of property
Applications where a Registrar’s order is required (e.g. where the will is lost or where there is a minority interest)
Any expenses, such as the Probate Registry fee and oath swearing fee

If you would like to add any of the services that are not included, let us know and we will do our best to provide a fixed fee quote that suits your requirements.

We would expect to be able to finalise this service within 3 to 5 weeks of instruction, subject to any unforeseen delays that are beyond our control.

Estate Administration – Small Estates Service

£4,000 + VAT

This service is suitable for most estates where the full Inheritance Tax Return (IHT400) is not required.

What is included in this service:

All the services included in our grant only service PLUS:
Contacting the various organisations to notify them of the death and request the necessary information (e.g. banks, building societies, pension companies, insurance companies, share registrars, HMRC, DWP, utility companies etc) up to a maximum of 15 organisations**
Obtain copies of documents from the Land Registry to check ownership
Preparing renunciations and powers of attorney relating to the estate
Preparation of Inheritance Tax form IHT217 where it is necessary to transfer a nil rate band
Arranging payment of the funeral
Contacting the estate beneficiaries (maximum of 8)
Gathering in the estate assets
Finalising the tax affairs up to the date of death, unless a self-assessment is required
Finalising the tax affairs for the administration period (from date of death until the estate is finalised) unless a full self-assessment is required
Preparation of final estate accounts
Distribution of specific monetary gifts (maximum of 6 beneficiaries)
Distribution of the remaining estate (maximum of 6 beneficiaries)

What is not included in this service*:

Preparation of Inheritance Tax Return IHT400 (required where an IHT205 cannot be used)
Obtaining valuations of assets
Arranging insurance of assets
The transfer or sale of property
Dealing with any personal possessions
Financial advice relating to sale or transfer of any investments
Dealing with any disputes that may arise
Variation of the estate
Dealing with any business interests
Placing notices for unknown creditors
Checking the identity of beneficiaries and carrying out bankruptcy searches
Tracing missing beneficiaries
A search of the Unclaimed Assets Register
Locating missing wills
Any expenses, such as the Probate Registry fee, oath swear fee, Land Registry fees

If you would like to add any services that are not included, let us know and we will do our best to provide a fixed fee quote that suits your requirements.

It’s difficult to give an estimate of timescales for this service as it will very much depend on your individual circumstances and many factors that will be beyond our control. We will let you know how long we estimate the service will take as soon as we have more details about the estate.

The following provides a guide to typical timescales involved to reach the key stages of the service:

Obtaining the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration – Approximately 2 to 3 months from date of instruction
Gathering in funds from financial institutions such as banks – Approximately 3 to 4 months from date of instruction
Distribution of specific monetary gifts and interim payments to residuary beneficiaries – Approximately 4 to 5 months from date of instruction
Finalising the estate – 6 to 12 months depending on the sale of assets and what matters must be finalised. Having to finalise matters with HMRC or The Pension Service can delay the process significantly

Estate Administration – Larger Estates Service

£10,000 + VAT

This service is suitable for most estates where a full Inheritance Tax Return (IHT400) is required and for estates that may require more work, for example, due to a large number of assets or beneficiaries.

What is included in this service:

All the services included in our small estates service PLUS:
Contacting the various organisations to notify them of the death and request the required information (e.g. banks, building societies, pension companies, insurance companies, share registrars, HMRC, DWP, utility companies etc) up to a maximum of 30 organisations
Contacting the estate beneficiaries (maximum of 16)
Checking the identity of beneficiaries and carrying out bankruptcy searches
Preparation of Inheritance Tax Return IHT400 (provided there are no foreign assets, business assets, agricultural property or lifetime gifts that must be accounted for)
Settlement of Inheritance Tax either by direct payment from the deceased person’s bank(s) or from your own funds
The transfer of one property (without mortgage) to beneficiaries
Placing notices for unknown creditors
A search of the Unclaimed Assets Register
Arranging insurance for a single property

What is not included in this service*:

Arranging payment of Inheritance Tax by instalments
Obtaining valuations of assets
The sale of property
Dealing with any personal possessions
Financial advice relating to sale or transfer of any investments
Dealing with any disputes that may arise
Variation of the estate
Dealing with any business interests
Tracing missing beneficiaries
Locating missing wills
Any expenses, such as the Probate Registry fee, oath swearing fee, Land Registry fees

If you would like to add any of the services that are not included, let us know and we will do our best to provide a fixed fee quote that suits your requirements.

It’s difficult to give an estimate of timescales for this service as it will very much depend on your individual circumstances and many factors that will be beyond our control. We will let you know how long we estimate the service will take as soon as we have more details about the estate.

The following provides a guide to typical timescales involved to reach the key stages of the service:

Obtaining the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration – Approximately 2 to 3 months from date of instruction
Gathering in funds from financial institutions such as banks – Approximately 3 to 4 months from date of instruction
Distribution of specific monetary gifts and interim payments to residuary beneficiaries – Approximately 4 to 5 months from date of instruction
Finalising the estate – 6 to 12 months depending on the sale of assets and what matters must be finalised. Having to finalise matters with HMRC or The Pension Service can delay the process significantly

Estate Administration – Bespoke Service

Some estates won’t fit into any of the options above, either because they are more complicated or because it’s not possible to estimate how much work will be required at the outset. If that’s the case, you still have options.

Option A –Bespoke fixed fee

Let us have as much information as you can about the estate and we will do our best to give you a bespoke fixed fee quote at the outset.

Option B – hourly rates

If it’s not possible to agree a bespoke fixed fee at the outset you can use our hourly rate service. Our hourly rates are:

Andrew Milburn: £300+VAT
Connor King: £210+VAT
Molly Sutherland: £210+VAT

If you choose the hourly rate service and it later becomes clearer how much work is likely to be involved, we can always discuss the possibility of a fixed fee once the estate administration is under way.

It’s difficult to give an estimate of timescales for this service as it will very much depend on your individual circumstances and many factors that will be beyond our control. We will let you know how long we estimate the service will take as soon as we have more details about the estate.

The following provides a guide to typical timescales involved to reach the key stages of the service:

Obtaining the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration – Approximately 2 to 3 months from date of instruction
Gathering in funds from financial institutions such as banks – Approximately 3 to 4 months from date of instruction
Distribution of specific monetary gifts and interim payments to residuary beneficiaries – Approximately 4 to 5 months from date of instruction
Finalising the estate – 6 to 12 months depending on the sale of assets and what matters must be finalised. Having to finalise matters with HMRC or The Pension Service can delay the process significantly

*The lists of services not included in our fixed fee services are intended to highlight the most common services that will not be included. They are not an exhaustive list. Any services not specifically included will not be included as part of that fixed fee service.

**If there are multiple shareholdings held with the same share registrar, each individual shareholding will be treated as a separate organisation.

Likely Disbursements

The above fee estimates do not include disbursements. Disbursements are costs or fees that are payable to third parties.

The Probate court fee is currently £300 plus £1.50 for each additional copy required.

Common disbursements can include:

Fees for swearing of the Oath (per executor)
Land registry fees
Trustee Act Notices
Missing asset searches
Bankruptcy searches
Tracing agents fees
Family tree verification
Missing beneficiary/will insurance
House insurance
Clearance costs
Funeral expenses
Share transfer fees/indemnities
Accountancy fees
Valuation fees
Tax (inheritance tax, income tax, capital gains tax)

This list is not exhaustive and the amounts will vary depending upon a number of factors such as the value of the estate and the complexity of the matter. We will of course provide you wish a detailed quote specific to your requirements upon request.

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