Legal solutions
with a personal
approach.
At Cooper Stott Solicitors, we pride ourselves on our approachability and eagerness to help our clients achieve their goal.
Probate
A sympathetic approach.
Probate covers the area of law when someone has died, whether they have left a will or not, and how their assets are distributed.
We recognise that this is a particularly difficult time for clients and offer a sympathetic approach, as well as dealing with matters as efficiently and swiftly as possible.
We have a large probate caseload and have encountered various issues with estates in the past. We are able to rely on our experience to deliver the efficient service which we believe this sensitive area of law requires.
Service Information and Prices
Probate and Administration of Estates
As part of our professional rules, we aim to ensure that anyone wishing to use our services has the information they need to make an informed choice of legal services provider, including understanding what the costs may be.
Estate Administration: Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets
We anticipate this will take between 3 and 20 hours work at £200.00 plus VAT per hour. Total costs estimated at between £600.00 and £4,000.00 plus VAT. This is an estimate only and on occasion our fees may be more or less than this.
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 above applies for estates where:
What the service includes
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Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor to work on your matter
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Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
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Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
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Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application and liaise with all relevant organisations
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Complete the Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms
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Draft a Statement of Truth for you to sign
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Make the application to the Probate Registry on your behalf
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Obtain Grant of Probate and office copies
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Deal with closure of accounts, collect in estate funds and pay any liabilities
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Prepare a final estate account and distribute the estate to the beneficiaries
Anticipated charges and expenses
As we have stated earlier, it is difficult to be precise about the anticipated costs as the exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. Therefore, we have set out below the estimated costs of a typical, straightforward transaction. For this example we have assumed:
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There is a valid will
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An estate in which there are no more than three bank accounts;
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No more than one property in the sole name of the deceased;
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No debts;
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No likelihood of the estate being insolvent;
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No significant lifetime gifts;
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No shareholdings;
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No trusts to be established;
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No dispute between the beneficiaries on the division of the assets;
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No Inheritance Tax payable and the Executors do not need to submit a full IHT return to HMRC;
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No requirement to use the transferable nil rate band or residence nil rate band;
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No other intangible assets;
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No claims made against the estate;
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No agricultural or business element to the estate;
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No foreign element to the estate.
Administration of estates work is normally charged on a time spent basis. Our current hourly rates are:
VAT is currently 20%
We have set out a worked example below to provide some indications of the likely costs of our services. Every matter is different and our aim will be to tailor the costs estimate to the individual demands of your transaction.
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. Disbursements in addition to the above fees include:
Factors that would increase the costs of your matter
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Not having all of the paperwork available or having incorrect information that needs investigation and correction;
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Third parties not responding to our communications promptly;
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Dealing with unusual, foreign or complex assets or items.
Potential additional costs
If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) or assets with more than three different organisations, there are likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how the assets are to be dealt with. Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included in the above costs.
We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.
How long will this take?
It is difficult to estimate with any precision how long a Probate matter will take as it will be influenced by many factors, some of which are outside of our control. However, on average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 6-9 months.
Application for Grant of Probate only
What the service includes
-
Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor to work on your matter
-
Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
-
Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
-
Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application
-
Complete the Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms
-
Draft a Statement of Truth for you to sign
-
Make the application to the Probate Registry on your behalf
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Obtain the Grant of Probate and securely send copies to you
Anticipated charges and expenses
We can help our clients through this difficult process by obtaining the Grant of Probate on their behalf. Grant of Probate work is normally charged on a time spent basis (see our hourly rates set out earlier). We have set out a worked example below to provide some indications of the likely costs of our services. Every matter is different and our aim will be to tailor the costs estimate to the individual demands of your transaction.
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. Disbursements in addition to the above fees include:
Please note the above indicative figures are for obtaining a Grant of Probate only and do not include the administration of the estate.
How long will this take?
It is difficult to estimate with any precision how long such a matter will take but, on average, such applications are dealt with and finalised within 8-16 weeks.
