A Grant of Probate is a document issued by the Court authorising the deceased person’s personal representatives (known as Executors if they left a Will or Administrators if there was no Will) enabling them to deal with the estate assets eg closing Bank or Building Society Accounts or other investments, selling shares and property and land held in the deceased person’s name.

Unless the estate is small or all the assets are jointly owned in which case no Grant of Probate may be required, the administration of an estate involves applying for a Grant of Probate, collecting in the estate assets, settling any liabilities of the estate from the monies realised, and distributing the net estate to the beneficiaries named in the Will or to those entitled under the Intestacy Rules if there is no Will.

When applying for the Grant, details of the estate assets must be declared to HMRC on form IHT205, in a straightforward estate, or form IHT400 and its associated schedules in certain circumstances, or in a higher value or more complex estate.

If the estate is straightforward and you are comfortable with handling all of the administration of the estate yourself (including dealing with any taxation issues, any queries which might be raised by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) which might arise if the deceased person was in receipt of any form of means tested benefit, and the distribution of the estate) we can limit the work we do to obtaining the Grant and additional copies of it for you for a fixed fee of £600.00 plus VAT and the necessary disbursements being the Probate Court fee currently £155.00 plus £1.50p per additional copy of the Grant provided the estate does not include any business assets owned by the deceased person or involve the transfer of Inheritance Tax allowances from a predeceased spouse or require the filing of an IHT400. If the estate involves any of those matters and you want us to apply for the Grant only, we will provide a bespoke quotation based on the estate circumstances. In any case where we are applying for the Grant only, we will ask you to put us in funds to cover the Probate Court fees before they are incurred.

We anticipate this will take between 6 and 16 hours work at £185 per hour and our fees will be between £1,000.00 and £3,000.00 plus VAT and the necessary disbursements mentioned below.

The exact cost will depend on the estate circumstances and we will provide you with a “bespoke” costs’ estimate at the beginning of the matter. For example, if there is one beneficiary and no property, the costs will be at the lower end of the range. If there are multiple beneficiaries, a property, and multiple bank accounts, the costs will be at the higher end.

We will handle the full process for you. The above estimate is for estates as specified above where there:

• is a valid Will
• is no more than one property
• are no more than 5 bank or building society accounts
• are no more than 5 beneficiaries
• are no disputes between beneficiaries on the division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
• no claims made against the estate
• there are no foreign assets

The likely required disbursements for such specified estates are:

• Probate Court fee currently £155.00 plus £1.50p per extra copy Grant
• Bankruptcy-only searches (£2.00 per beneficiary)
• Statutory Advertisement in The London Gazette to protect against unexpected claims from unknown creditors currently £97.20 (inclusive of VAT).
• Advertisement in a Local Newspaper for the same reason estimated at £72.00 (inclusive of VAT).

(“The basic Probate disbursements”)

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.

Additional costs and disbursements for the above estates

• If there is no Will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there are likely to be additional costs which could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.
• If the deceased person was a self-assessed income tax-payer, Accountants’ fees may be incurred to finalise the income tax position to the date of death and we will have additional costs in dealing with this.
• If any property whose title is already registered at the Land Registry is to be transferred into the name(s) of a beneficiary, a Land Registry fee dependant on the value of the property will be payable; additional costs and a Land Registry fee will be incurred if the title to the property is unregistered so that a Land Registry first registration of title application is required.
• Dealing with any Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) enquiries beyond the provision of basic information as to the estate assets. (If the deceased person received any form of means tested benefits, the DWP will ask the personal representatives for details of the estate assets and compare them to those declared at the time of the benefit application and may raise further enquiries if there is any discrepancy between the two)
• Conveyancing fees for the sale of any property in the estate are not included and we will provide a separate costs’ estimate for this.

Our additional costs will be charged in accordance with our hourly rate quoted above plus VAT and we will advise you of the amount of any additional disbursements before they are incurred.

Timescale for the above estates

The obtaining of the Grant of Probate and collecting in of non-property assets in the above estates usually takes between 6 to 9 months. Obtaining the Grant of Probate usually takes 8 to 12 weeks from submitting the application but as of October 2021 can take longer due the Probate Registry’s current backlog. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 4 to 6 weeks. Once this has been done, and the sale of any property has been completed, we can prepare Estate Accounts for your approval as personal representatives, obtain the approval of any required beneficiaries, and distribute the estate, and this part of the process normally takes 2 to 4 weeks. If there is a property to sell, the conclusion of the administration of the estate must await completion of the sale but we can make appropriate interim distributions in accordance with your instructions.

Our included services in connection with the above estates

We will

• 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 required
• Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application
• Complete the Probate Application and the HMRC IHT205 form
• Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
• Obtain the Probate
• Collect in the non-property estate assets
• Arrange for the settlement of the funeral account and other liabilities from the estate assets as required
• Provide the DWP with basic information about the estate assets as required
• Prepare an Estate Account dealing with monies we have received and paid out on behalf of the estate for your approval
• Distribute the estate

(“The Probate services”)

The cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter and we will provide you with a “bespoke” costs’ estimate at the beginning of the matter. Typically, we anticipate such an estate is likely to take between 22 and 54 hours work at £185 per hour and our fees will be between £4,000.00 and £10,000.00 plus VAT, depending on the size and complexity of the estate plus the necessary disbursements.

The likely required disbursements for estates are:

• The basic Probate disbursements listed above plus
• Professional property valuation
• Accountancy Fees – to deal with a date of death tax return if the deceased person was a self-assessed income tax-payer and also to obtain a valuation of business assets or shares in a private company held by the deceased person
• Professional valuations for shares, jewellery, antiques and the like

We would advise the amount of the additional disbursements when known.

Our included services in connection with these estates

Are the Probate services listed above plus we will deal with the HMRC IHT400 form and Schedules and, assuming sufficient funds are available, arrange for the payment of any Inheritance Tax due from the estate assets.

Timescale for these estates

The obtaining of the Grant of Probate and collecting in of non-property assets in the above estates can take between 9 to 12 months. In a case where an IHT400 Inheritance Tax account is required accurate date of death asset valuations must be obtained together with details of any gifts made by the deceased in the 7 years before death. If any Inheritance Tax is payable a property valuation by a Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) will be necessary. Depending on the complexity of the estate these enquires can take 2 to 3 months.

As of October 2021, the obtaining the Grant of Probate may take 3 to 4 months from submitting the application. Obtaining the Grant takes longer in an IHT400 case because HMRC must confirm receipt of the IHT400 forms and payment of any Inheritance Tax due to the Probate Registry before the Grant can be issued.

Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 1 to 2 months. Once this has been done, and the sale of any property has been completed, we can prepare Estate Accounts for your approval as personal representatives, obtain the approval of any required beneficiaries, and distribute the estate. In a case where Inheritance Tax is payable the estate should not be distributed until HMRC has issued a clearance letter confirming no further Inheritance Tax is due which can take several months to obtain.