No estate administration procedure is exactly the same and our fees will reflect the complexity of the estate and the extent to which you require us to assist you in the process. For example dealing with an estate which is subject to Inheritance Tax (IHT), or which qualifies for IHT reliefs such as Business Property, Agricultural Property or Heritage Property will have added complexities and will cost more for us to administer than a simple estate which is not subject to IHT.

In addition the number and type of beneficiaries, as well as whether there are conditions on their inheritance, or trust arrangements provided for in the Will or which arise by virtue of the Intestacy Rules will increase estate administration costs. Equally, it may be the case that there are some parts of the estate administration process that you feel able to deal with yourself and this can reduce the time that we spend on the matter, and therefore the costs accordingly. Because of this, we can't give you a reliable estimate of cost for helping you until we have full details of the estate and are advised of the scope of the work that you require us to undertake on your behalf.



We can confirm that our costs for estate administration work are charged on an hourly basis.

OUR FEES

• Our fees for obtaining a grant of representation only, where you have provided all required information in a timely manner, would ordinarily incur costs

From £1,800 inclusive of VAT to £2,400 inclusive of VAT

• For a simple estate administration fees

From £3,600 inclusive of VAT to £4,800 inclusive of VAT, due to the number of anticipated hours spent dealing with these matters

• The average price of a simple estate administration, (which as a general guide would be an estate which is worth less the current nil rate band allowance, there is a valid Will in place, is not contested, has no trust provisions and which provides for the estate to be distributed to no more than 4 UK based beneficiaries), based on 20-30 anticipated hours of time

£6,000 inclusive of VAT to £8,000 inclusive of VAT

The above figures may vary depending on the nature of the terms of the Will and the scope of the work, which is why we always give you an individual cost estimate taking into account the nuances of the estate which is to be administered. We would be happy to discuss your specific circumstances with you and provide you with a bespoke cost estimate if you would like to contact us directly.

Please see below for more detail on the work included in the above cost estimate and details of tasks that would cause the fees to increase.

ADDITIONAL FEES

In addition to our legal costs the process of obtaining a grant of representation incurs disbursements, which are additional costs payable to other third parties, for example court fees and Land Registry fees. These include:

• The current fee for an application to the Probate Registry for a grant of representation

£273 and there is a charge of £1.50 for each official copy of the grant that it is required. Typically the fee including the office copies would be in the region of £288.

• If the estate includes a registered property

a fee of £7.20 including VAT would be paid to obtain official copies of the title, including plan,

• Charge to conduct a bankruptcy search against each UK based beneficiary.

£2.40 including VAT

• Where the executors wish to place Statutory Advertisements to ensure that creditors have been notified of the death then these ordinarily cost

£250 including VAT.

Timescales and Key Stages

Unfortunately it is impossible to provide an exact timescale for the length of time it will take to complete an estate administration as it depends on many external factors. However on average it takes 3 months to obtain the grant of probate and 6 to 9 months to complete the administration in connection with statutory provisions that impact on this timescale.

No estate administration is the same, therefore the information provided is a guide to the likely costs involved but cannot be relied upon as an accurate cost estimate for each individual matter. Please do contact us to discuss your specific circumstances so we can provide you with a bespoke cost estimate for the work involved.

The main steps typically include :

• Checking there is a will, that it's valid and is the latest will
• Thoroughly investigating all assets and liabilities of the deceased, including business assets and any assets abroad
• Where appropriate and requested by beneficiaries, advising on and drafting a deed of variation for a will
• Applying for a Grant of Probate or Grant of Representation (Letters of Administration)
• Dealing with the sale of a property, assets and shares
• Paying debts of the deceased
• Paying any Inheritance tax
• Preparing probate accounts and information for beneficiaries
• Distributing the deceased’s assets from the estate to the beneficiaries