Estate administration

No estate administration procedure is exactly the same and our fees will reflect the complexity of the estate and the extent to which you require us to assist you in the process. For example dealing with an estate which is subject to Inheritance Tax (IHT), or which qualifies for IHT reliefs such as Business Property, Agricultural Property or Heritage Property will have added complexities and will cost more for us to administer than a simple estate which is not subject to IHT.

In addition the number and type of beneficiaries, as well as whether there are conditions on their inheritance, or trust arrangements provided for in the Will or which arise by virtue of the Intestacy Rules will increase estate administration costs. Equally, it may be the case that there are some parts of the estate administration process that you feel able to deal with yourself and this can reduce the time that we spend on the matter, and therefore the costs accordingly. Because of this, we can't give you a reliable estimate of cost for helping you until we have full details of the estate and are advised of the scope of the work that you require us to undertake on your behalf.

We can confirm that our costs for estate administration work are charged on an hourly basis.

  1. OUR FEES
Our fees for obtaining a grant of representation only, where you have provided all required information in a timely manner, would ordinarily incur costs From £1,750 plus VAT
For a simple estate administration fees From £3,250 including VAT, due to the number of anticipated hours spent dealing with these matters
The average price of a simple estate administration, (which as a general guide would be an estate which is worth less the current nil rate band allowance, there is a valid Will in place, is not contested, has no trust provisions and which provides for the estate to be distributed to no more than 4 UK based beneficiaries), based on 20-30 anticipated hours of time £6,250 plus VAT

These figures may vary depending on the nature of the terms of the Will and the scope of the work, which is why we always give you an individual cost estimate taking into account the nuances of the estate which is to be administered. We would be happy to discuss your specific circumstances with you and provide you with a bespoke cost estimate if you would like to contact us directly.

Please see below for more detail on the work included in the above cost estimate and details of tasks that would cause the fees to increase.

  1. ADDITIONAL FEES

In addition to our legal costs the process of obtaining a grant of representation incurs disbursements, which are additional costs payable to other third parties, for example court fees and Land Registry fees. These include:

The current fee for an application to the Probate Registry for a grant of representation £300 if the value of the estate is over £5,000.  There is no fee is the value of the estate is £5,000 or less.
There is a charge of £1.50 for each official copy of the grant that it is required. Typically the fee including the office copies would be in the region of £315.
If the estate includes a registered property a fee of £14 plus VAT would be paid to obtain an official copies of the Title Registers 
Charge to conduct a bankruptcy search against each UK based beneficiary. £6 plus VAT
Where the executors wish to place Statutory Advertisements to ensure that creditors have been notified of the death then these ordinarily cost  £280 including VAT (approximately).
Where the executors wish to carry out a Financial Asset search  £195 inlcuding VAT (approximately)
  1. TIMESCALES

Unfortunately it is impossible to provide an exact timescale for the length of time it will take to complete an estate administration as it depends on many external factors. However on average it takes 3 months to obtain the grant of probate and 6 to 9 months to complete the administration in connection with statutory provisions that impact on this timescale.

No estate administration is the same, therefore the information provided is a guide to the likely costs involved but cannot be relied upon as an accurate cost estimate for each individual matter. Please do contact us to discuss your specific circumstances so we can provide you with a bespoke cost estimate for the work involved.

Click here to view tasks that will cause costs to increase.

  1. TEAM WHO WILL UNDERTAKE THE WORK
Team Status Charge-out rate per hour (excluding VAT)
Michael Alden Partner and Head of Department £440
Kirstin Cook Partner £400
John Toth Partner £525 (London)
Jonathan Hickman Partner £400
Mike Westbrook Partner £440
Sarah Mansbridge Senior Associate £355
Victoria Green Senior Associate £355
Victoria Emmett Senior Associate £355
Ruth Mason Senior Associate £355
Laura Morse Associate £295
Deborah Cochrane Associate £295
Andrew Boxall Associate £295
Rebecca Carey Solicitor £215
Sophie Borrie Solicitor £215
Bethan Gibson Solicitor £205
Rachel Quick Solicitor £205
Poli Lawrence Chartered Legal Executive £230
Dayna Bellis Chartered Legal Executive £205
Gemma Ball Chartered Legal Executive £215
Shannon Heals Paralegal (Solicitor Apprentice) £195
Aneurin Tomkins Paralegal  £210 (London)