Estate Administration Pricing Information

Uncontested Probate Work

Personal estates and financial situations are often complicated, requiring a great deal of time and commitment from the executor at what is very likely to be a difficult period. Enlisting the services of a professional organisation to support probate and estate administration is often the best approach.

Acting as an executor can be a considerable burden, but we can do a great deal to lighten the load. Our team is sympathetic, knowledgeable and will treat any concerns and queries in total confidence. Our role is to ensure that the terms of the Will are carried out. If there is no Will, we’ll ensure a correct distribution to all Beneficiaries entitled by law.

It is very difficult to provide you with an accurate estimate of the costs involved without further information of what we will be required to undertake to help you to bring this matter to a conclusion.

The following is an indication of the likely costs involved in the administration of simple estate:

Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets

We anticipate this will take between 10 and 30 hours work at £225 per hour. Total costs estimated at £2,250 – £6,750 + VAT.

The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if there is one beneficiary and no property, costs will be at the lower end of the range. If there are multiple beneficiaries, a property and multiple bank accounts, costs will be at the higher end.

We will handle the full process for you. This quote is for estates where:

There is a valid will
There is no more than one property
There are no more than five bank or building society accounts
There are no other intangible assets
There are two-four beneficiaries
There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
There is no inheritance tax payable and the executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC
There are no claims made against the estate

Disbursements in addition to this fee:

Probate application fee	£273
Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (per beneficiary)	£2
Post in The London Gazette (protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors)	£139.04
Post in a Local Newspaper (this also helps to protect against unexpected claims.)	£300-£500

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Services not included and potential additional costs

If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there are likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.

If any additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost £1.50 each (1 per asset usually).

Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included.

How long will this take?

On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 3-12 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 6-26 weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 4-12 weeks. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 2-3 weeks.

Where required, VAT is currently charged at 20%

Our Team

Our team has many years of collective experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to wills and estate administration.

We have 14 members of the team who may work on your matter. Regardless of who works on your matter, they will be supervised by Stuart Maher, Director and Head of our Private Client Department.