How we calculate our charges for Probate work

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Probate is the process of dealing with the estate of a person who has died which involves, in simple terms, obtaining a Grant of Probate, which is the official document needed to deal with the assets and liabilities, then collecting in the assets, paying the liabilities, completing any forms in relation to inheritance tax, producing estate accounts and finally distributing the estate to the beneficiaries.

 

We will handle the full process for you.

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When you make an enquiry with us about dealing with an estate we will assess whether you will receive best value from a fixed fee quote or an hourly rate quote.  You may choose the fixed fee option at this stage to give you certainty about the fees involved, as the number of hours which we will spend on the work involved will only ever be an estimate initially.  If you choose an hourly rate option we will keep you updated about the costs which are being incurred, usually on a monthly basis.

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The following quotation basis is for estates where:

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• There is a valid will or the deceased died intestate

• There is no more than one property

• There are multiple bank or building society accounts

• There are intangible assets

• There are 1-20 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 may be inheritance tax payable and the executors may need to submit a full account to HMRC

• There are no claims made against the estate (contentious probate will incur additional charges).

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For estates which fit into the above parameters our fees will fall into one of these three categories:

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• Grant Only Service

• Full Probate

• Full Probate where Executors named in the Will are Eccles Heddon Solicitors LLP

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Grant Only Service – Fixed Fee only

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Where we act for the Executors of the estate (the people named in a Will as being responsible for administering the estate of the deceased person) we can provide you with a service which is restricted to obtaining just the Grant of Probate. In instances where a formal inheritance tax return is not required and there are no other complicating factors, this service is provided at a fixed fee of £1,250.00 plus VAT of £250.00 (£1,500.00 in total). We also make a charge of £15.00 plus VAT (£18.00 in total) per Executor for electronic identification and verification.

 

This service is based entirely on the asset and liability information provided by the Executors and does not include any collection of assets or liabilities or distribution of the estate and does not include any advice in relation to Inheritance Tax.

 

Full Probate

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Where Eccles Heddon Solicitors LLP are NOT the Executors named in the Will we can act for the Executors of the estate in providing a full service, applying for the Grant, collecting and distributing the assets after payment of liabilities and any tax.

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Fixed Fee

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Our fixed fee rate for this service is 2% of the gross value of the estate (which includes the value of any property) plus VAT, £40 plus VAT per bank transfer involved in distributing assets, £90 plus VAT software use charge for our Probate Plus system and any disbursements payable (please see below).  We also make a charge of £15.00 plus VAT (£18.00 in total) per Executor for electronic identification and verification. The gross value of the estate means the value before liabilities, tax and any administrative costs have been deducted and is based on the gross value of the estate at the date of death of the deceased.  Please note there is a minimum charge of £2,500.00 plus VAT of £500.00 and any disbursements for this service.

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The fees involved in dealing with any sale of a property which forms part of the estate are charged separately as per our Residential Conveyancing online calculator which can be found elsewhere on this website.

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Example: if an estate consists of £100,000 worth of assets (shares, money in bank accounts, paintings etc.) plus a property worth £350,000 then our fixed fee for dealing with the Full Probate would be 2% of £100,000 + £350,000 = £9,000, added to which would be £885.00 for the sale of the property, £90 for the Probate Plus software charge, and £15 for electronic identification and verification check, plus VAT (£1,998.00 total VAT for both all fees) and disbursements if the property is being sold (rather than being transferred to beneficiaries, for which there is no additional conveyancing fee).

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Hourly Rate

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Our hourly rate is £270.  When we assess how the estate is made up we can assess how many hours we may take in dealing with the administration. 

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Example: we may take 25 hours to deal with an estate which has the above range of assets so our hourly rate charge would be 25 x £270 = £6,750 added to which would be the £885.00 for the sale of the property and £90 for the Probate Plus software charge, and £15 for electronic identification and verification check, plus VAT (£1,548.00 total VAT for both all fees) and disbursements, but the time taken cannot be known until the matter has concluded.

 

Full Probate where Executors named in the Will are Eccles Heddon Solicitors LLP

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Where the Executors named in the Will of the deceased are the Partners for the time being in Eccles Heddon Solicitors LLP we will again act to provide a full service as described above, with the additional personal responsibility which comes from being Executors.

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Fixed Fee

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Our fixed fee rate for this service is 3% of the gross value of the estate (again excluding the sale of any property for which we will charge separately) plus VAT, £40 per bank transfer involved in distributing assets and any disbursements payable (please see below), and £15 for electronic identification and verification check. Please note there is a minimum charge of £2,500.00 plus VAT of £500.00 and any disbursements for this service.

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Example: if an estate consists of £100,000 worth of assets (shares, money in bank accounts, race horses etc) plus a property worth £350,000.00 then our costs for dealing with the Full Probate and acting as Executors would be £13,500.00, plus £885.00 for the sale of the property, £90 for the Probate Plus software charge, and £15 for electronic identification and verification check, plus VAT (£2,898.00 total VAT for both all fees) and disbursements.

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Hourly Rate

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Example: we may take 40 hours to deal with this estate so our hourly rate charge would be £10,800.00 plus £885.00 for the sale of the property, £90 for the Probate Plus software charge plus VAT, and £15 for electronic identification and verification check, (£2,358.00 total VAT for both all fees) and disbursements.

 

*More Complex Matters – charged on an hourly basis only.

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For estates which do not fit into the parameters above then we will need to provide a more personalised quote (e.g. estates without a Will – intestacy; estates with high numbers of beneficiaries; estates which are contested in some way). The above figures and methods of calculation can be taken as a base point for dealing with estates which fall outside these parameters.  We will arrange an initial meeting with you to discuss the extent of the estate, assets, liabilities, any disputes likely to occur etc. and then provide you with a written quote.

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For these kinds of estates we would expect to undertake between 10 hours work for a simple estate and anything up to 150 hours work for an extremely complicated estate.  In these circumstances (for the estate work only) we will charge at a rate of £270 per hour and £90 for the Probate Plus software charge (i.e. a range of £2,790.00 to £40,590.00) plus VAT (£558.00 to £8,118.00), bank transfer charges and disbursements.

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​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, multiple bank accounts, investment portfolios, foreign assets, business assets, agricultural assets and a full Inheritance Tax return to submit to HMRC, then costs will be at the higher end. The majority of estates that we deal with will be dealt with within 15 to 35 hours of time and therefore costs will come in between £4,050.00 and £9,450.00 and £90 for the Probate Plus software charge plus VAT (£828.00 to £1,908.00).

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​Disbursements

 

Disbursements are costs related to dealing with the estate 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 (payable to others):

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• Probate application fee of £273.00

• Official copies of the Grant of Probate £1.50 per copy (we usually request up to 10 copies)

• Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 + VAT per beneficiary per distribution event)

• Trustee Act Notices costing about £200 (depending on the local paper used) posted in the London Gazette and a local newspaper – Protects the executors against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.

• £126 (£105 plus VAT at 20%) costs for the use of our Probate software package

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​How long will this take?

 

On average, straightforward estates where the deceased had a Will are dealt with within 6-12 months. Typically, obtaining the Grant of Probate takes 4 - 8 weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take a further 4 - 12 weeks. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes a further 4 weeks (this may be longer if beneficiaries are outside the UK).

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For more information, please contact your local office at Ripon, Thirsk or Bedale.