Overview
Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets
We anticipate this will take between 10 and 20 hours work at an average of £290 plus VAT per hour, depending on the complexity of your case and who works on it. Our legal costs are estimated to be between £3,000 and £7,000 +VAT.
The exact cost, however, 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 above 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. The legal fees estimate (above) is for estates where:
- There is a valid will
- There is no more than one property
- There are no more than 10 bank or building society accounts
- There are no shareholdings (stocks and bonds) in the estate
- There are no other intangible assets
- There are no more than 10 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
If your case is more complex than the above example, we can give you a more accurate estimate of these costs once we have more information.
| Additional Likely Expenses | £ |
|---|---|
| Probate application fee | £273.00 |
| Copies of grant of probate, per copy | £1.50 |
| Bankruptcy Searches, per beneficiary based in the UK | £2.00 |
| International Bankruptcy Searches, prices vary depending on country of residence | £TBC |
| Post in The London Gazette (s27 Notice) and a local newspaper – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors | £200 -£400 |
| Will Search, if required. | £120-£150 |
| Unclaimed Assets Search, if required. | Approx. £200 |
These additional expenses are costs related to your matter that may be payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of these payments on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Please note: Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included but we do offer a Conveyancing service and so can help you with this.
On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt within 6-12 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 12-16 weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 4-8 weeks, although if there is a property to sell, this could be considerably longer. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes a further 2-4 weeks.