Probate and Estate Administration

Applying for Probate, dealing with estate assets and making distributions

The information below is intended to give an indication of the legal costs that may arise in two representative situations.

The costs provided are estimates rather than fixed quotations. The eventual cost will depend on the circumstances of the estate, the nature and number of assets and liabilities, and the work required. We will keep you informed of costs as the administration progresses and discuss any significant changes to the original estimate.

Our charges are based on the work undertaken and the applicable hourly rates. We do not apply an additional percentage or separate “value element” according to the overall value of the estate.

An Associate would ordinarily deal with the majority of the administration, with the matter being supervised by a Partner.

Our current hourly rates are:

Associate: £325 plus VAT per hour
Partner: £425 plus VAT per hour

The estimates below may therefore comprise work carried out by both an Associate and a Partner.

Example A – estate with no inheritance tax

Indicative legal fees: £12,000–£20,000 plus VAT and disbursements

This range is intended for an estate where the following assumptions substantially apply:

The deceased was domiciled in the United Kingdom.
A valid Will was left by the deceased.
All estate assets are located within the UK.
There is no more than one property. The costs of selling the property are not included.
The deceased held no more than four bank accounts.
The assets and liabilities can be established and valued without significant difficulty.
There are no more than five outright cash legacies.
The beneficiaries are known and can be readily located.
No inheritance tax is payable and HMRC does not require a full inheritance tax account.
There are no lifetime gifts in excess of the annual exempt amount which need to be reported to HMRC.
No claims have been made against the estate.
There are no disagreements between beneficiaries and no dispute involving the executors.

Example B – estate where inheritance tax is payable

Indicative legal fees: £20,000–£48,000 plus VAT and disbursements

This estimate is based on an estate broadly meeting the following criteria:

The deceased was domiciled in the UK.
The deceased left a valid Will.
Assets are located in the UK, save that there may be up to two overseas assets.
There are no more than two property interests. The costs of selling or transferring those properties are excluded.
There are no more than eight bank or building society accounts.
There are no more than two investment or share portfolios.
The assets and liabilities can be valued without substantial difficulty.
There are no more than ten outright cash legacies.
There are no more than five residuary beneficiaries.
All beneficiaries have been identified and can be traced.
A full inheritance tax account is required for submission to HMRC.
Inheritance tax is payable, with potentially relevant reliefs being considered.
Any valuation queries raised by HMRC can be resolved without lengthy negotiations.
Any lifetime gift information is readily available.
There are no claims against the estate.
There are no disagreements between beneficiaries and no dispute involving the executors.

Third-party expenses and other payments

In addition to our professional fees, an estate may incur disbursements. These are payments made to third parties as part of the administration rather than charges for our own legal services. Where appropriate, we can arrange payment of these costs on behalf of the executors.

Depending on the circumstances, disbursements may include:

The fee payable to the Probate Registry for the probate application – £528 plus £2 per office copy.
Bankruptcy searches, currently approximately £2 per beneficiary for each distribution.
Advertising in the London Gazette and appropriate local newspaper for unknown creditors – £300.
A financial asset search, if required – £300.
Title registers for Land Registry approximately £3 per title register and £3 per plan.
Professional valuations of property, personal effects or shareholdings, where necessary. The cost will depend on the assets concerned and their value.

VAT will be added to the above amounts wherever applicable.

Matters that may increase the estimated cost

The estimates are based on the assumptions set out above. Additional work may be required, and consequently additional costs may arise, where the circumstances of the estate differ from those assumptions.

Examples include:

The deceased was not UK domiciled or further investigation is required.
The estate includes assets or liabilities across several countries or jurisdictions.
The deceased held business or agricultural interest.
No valid Will was left and the estate therefore has to be administered under the intestacy rules.
The estate includes stocks, shares or bonds which are not held through an investment manager. The additional work involved can vary substantially according to the investments and the steps necessary to deal with them. A further estimate can be provided once the relevant details are known.
Specialist tax advice beyond the inheritance tax advice ordinarily provided as part of the administration is needed. Advice on matters such as income tax or capital gains tax will only be undertaken where separately agreed.
Assets are held jointly with another person and further investigation is required to establish the deceased’s beneficial interest.
The deceased had an interest in a trust or was due to inherit from another estate which had not yet been distributed.
A beneficiary seeks to vary their entitlement.
There is a dispute between executors or beneficiaries. Contentious work is not covered.

If circumstances develop which are likely to result in additional work, we will explain the implications and, where reasonably possible, provide a revised estimate.

Expected timescale

There is no fixed timetable for administering an estate. The length of the process depends on the particular circumstances and on matters outside our control, including the processing times of HMRC and the Probate Registry.

For an uncomplicated estate where a full inheritance tax account is not required, the administration would ordinarily be expected to take around 8 to 12 months overall.

In a matter broadly corresponding to Illustration A, the initial stage of obtaining information about the deceased’s assets, liabilities and beneficiaries would generally take around 2 to 3 months before the probate application is submitted. The Probate Registry will then process the application and issue the Grant according to its prevailing processing times.

Once the Grant has been received, the process of collecting and/or transferring estate assets may take a further 2 to 4 months. The remaining estate can then generally be distributed to the beneficiaries, with the distribution stage potentially taking another 2 to 4 months, depending on the circumstances.

Where inheritance tax is payable, the administration will generally take longer. Additional inheritance tax work is required and the appropriate inheritance tax return must be dealt with before the probate application can progress. There is also a prescribed waiting period between certain stages of the process.

A relatively uncomplicated taxable estate would ordinarily take approximately 12 to 24 months to complete. Estates involving greater complexity may take substantially longer, particularly where trusts, complicated assets or extended correspondence and negotiations with HMRC are involved.