Fixed Fee Grant Only Probate Service
Legal costs
There are two main elements to the legal costs of obtaining a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.
- Our charges;
- Expenses we must pay out on your behalf.
Our charges
We charge a fixed price of £995.00 for obtaining the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration. Should you require us to undertake any further work in respect of this matter such as assistance with the distribution of the Estate, this will be charged in accordance with our hourly rates.
If a matter or transaction does not reach a conclusion, we reserve the right to charge for the work done, using our normal charging basis of up to £275 per hour. This applies even where a fixed rate has been agreed for the whole matter.
Our charges do not include VAT, which we will add to your bill at the prevailing rate.
Expenses
Even where our charges are fixed, we would usually expect to incur certain expenses your behalf which we will also add to your bill. The amount of expenses can vary and the following is an estimate only:
| Expense | Estimated amount | VAT chargeable |
| Electronic ID Verification (Smart Search) | £5.00 per person | Yes |
| Bankruptcy Search | £2.00 per person (including Deceased) | No |
| Probate Court Fee | £273.00 | No |
| Sealed copies of the Grant | 1.50 each copy | No |
Estimated total legal costs
We estimate that the total cost of obtaining the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration will be £1480.00 including our charges, the expenses we expect to pay on your behalf and VAT (this is based on there being one Executor who is also the Beneficiary and two copies of the Grant).
This estimate includes:
- Face to face or telephone consultation explaining the process.
- Opening of the file, client care documentation and ID verification.
- Preparation of the Inheritance Tax Form (IHT205).
- Completion of the Oath or Statement in Support of the application
- Obtaining the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.
Additional costs
The ‘Estimated total legal costs’ shown above assumes we are instructed simply to obtain the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration. Additional amounts may be payable for our charges and/or expenses if there are complications arising from the Will or, if you require assistance with the administration of the Estate. These additional costs will be discussed and agreed with you prior to the commencement of any work on your behalf.
The ‘Estimated total legal costs’ specifically does not include:
- Additional Bankruptcy Searches and Electronic ID Verification fees where there is more than one executor.
- Matters where there is no valid Will and the deceased left no surviving spouse or adult children.
- Advice relating to the validity of the Will.
- Advice relating to the distribution of the Estate.
- A Will search.
- Advice relating to the Executors.
- Advice regarding Beneficiaries.
- Where the deceased was domiciled abroad.
- Completion of the IHT form 400 when the IHT205 is not appropriate.
- Claim of the Residential Nil Rate Band.
- Transfer of the Residential Nil Rate Band.
- Transfer of the IHT Nil rate band.
- Registration of death.
- Valuations of assets within the estate.
- Dealing with any property related matter e.g., insurance, utilities, council tax.
- Advertising of statutory notices.
- Any conveyancing which may be required to deal with the property.
- Any Inheritance tax, income tax or capital gains tax issues.
- Payment of any Pecuniary Legacies in the Will.
- Dealing with any Specific Legacies in the Will.
- Payment of debts and liabilities in the Estate.
- Collection and distribution of assets.
- Preparation of estate accounts.
- Any estate expenses such as swear/commissioners fees.
- Advice in connection with variation of the estate or drafting any documentation relating to this.
- Dealing with any disputes which may arise.
Likely timescale and key stages
Applications for Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration usually take 8 to 12 weeks from receiving your instructions to receipt of the Grant. This is on the basis that all the following documentation is provided within one week of the initial meeting: The original Will, valuations of assets, debts and liabilities held as at the date of death, Identification documents and Probate Court fee.
If any complications arise, the matter will take a longer. We will advise you if and when this occurs.
Most matters of this nature involve the following key stages:
- Initial meeting.
- Receipt of Estate information.
- Preparation of the IHT205 and Oath.
- Approval and Execution of the IHT205 and Oath.
- Send Application to Probate Registry.
- Receipt of the formal Grant and sealed copies.
Our expertise
Our team has over 40 years of collective experience in delivering high-quality work in all matters relating to probate administration. The team has particular expertise in Wills, Probate, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Court of Protection and Trusts matters.
For details of the members of the team who may work on your matter, please see our Wills, Trusts and Probate page. Regardless of who works on your matter, they will be supervised by Darren McGuinness, a Solicitor/Director with over 20 years’ post-qualification experience.
Other Services
If you feel that you will need some assistance with the management and distribution of the Estate, it may be that our Probate and Estate Administration option is the right choice for you. We are of course happy to discuss all pricing options with you in more detail. Please contact us on 01457 835597 or complete our contact us form on this page.
