Administration of Estate

Legal Costs

There are two main elements to the legal costs associated with winding up an uncontested deceased’s estate which will normally include obtaining a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration, paying liabilities, reporting to HMRC on tax and distributing the estate:

• Our Charges

• Expenses we must pay out on your behalf

Our Charges

Please refer to the tab ‘Hourly Rates’.

Costs will depend on the size and complexity of the estate and whether Inheritance Tax is chargeable. On average, a non-tax paying estate takes 10 to 15 hours to complete charged at our hourly rates as listed above. On average, a tax paying estate takes 20 to 50 hours to complete. We will provide you with an engagement letter once instructed with an estimate of our charges for your specific case.

The exact number of hours it will take depends on the circumstances of your case, such as:

• The number of client meetings, volume of correspondence and telephone calls;

• Is there a valid Will;

• The size and nature of the estate;

• Whether there is a foreign element;

• Taxation issues;

• Number and location of beneficiaries;

• Debts and liabilities;

• Freehold/Leasehold property considerations; and

• Whether there are Trusts involved.

If there is a valid Will, no inheritance tax to pay and the estate does not include any shareholdings, our charges are likely to be at the lower end of this range. Please note that additional amounts may be payable for our charges and/or expenses if for example there is no Will, the assets or tax situations are complex or distribution of the estate is contested.

We reserve the right to increase the hourly rates if the work done is particularly complex or urgent, or the nature of your instructions require us to work outside normal office hours. If this happens, we will notify you in advance and agree an appropriate rate.

We will review our hourly rates on a periodic basis. This is usually done each January. We will give you advance notice of any change to our hourly rates.

Our charges do not include VAT, which we will add to your bill at the prevailing rate.

Expenses

We would usually expect to incur certain expenses on your behalf which we will also add to your bill. The amount of expenses can vary and the following is an estimate only:

• Court Fees: £300 (if estate is over £5,000)

• Copies of Grant: £1.50 each

• Statutory Notices in London Gazette & Local Paper: £300 +VAT approximately

• Law Systems Probate Plus: £120 +VAT

Likely Timescale & Key Stages

Administration of estates usually take 6 to 9 months from receiving your instructions to distribution. This is on the basis that there is a valid Will, there is no inheritance tax to pay and the estate does not include any shareholdings. If there are additional issues as detailed above, the administration will take longer. We will advise you if and when this occurs.

Most matters of this nature involve the following key stages (subject to the complexities of the estate):

• Gathering information - 4 to 6 weeks

• Preparation of papers for submission to the Court - 2 to 3 weeks

• Dealing with post grant issues including transfer or sale of assets, collection of cash assets and payments of liabilities: 12 to 26 weeks (longer if tax paying estate)

• Distribution to beneficiaries (after tax clearance if tax paying estate): 2 to 4 weeks

The ‘Estimated total legal costs’ do not include:

• The sale or transfer of any property forming part of the estate;

• Providing tax advice or dealing with HMRC enquiries about inheritance tax;

• Providing accountancy advice: and

• Providing advice on the validity of a Will.