Wills and Probate

Probate (uncontested cases with all assets in the UK).

Trying to deal with the death of a close friend or a loved one can be daunting and stressful. In the event that you are appointed as an executor of the estate, or are the administrator, you are required to comply with the provisions of the deceased’s will or the Administration of the estate under the rules of intestacy if there was no Will left.

Being an executor or adminstrator, requires you to deal with matters under strict legal obligations and to ensure that the debts of the estate are dealt with, any taxes that are due are paid and that the assets of the estate are distributed in accordance with the terms of the will or the rules of intestacy.

Executor (sometimes known as an administrator) - is the person responsible for administering the estate (gathering the assets of the deceased, paying liabilities and tax and accounting to beneficiary/ beneficiaries).

Beneficiary – is the person or people who inherit from the estate.

Grant of probate – the document that proves the validity of the Will and gives the executor the authority to cash certain assets of the estate.

Dealing with the Administration of an estate will include some of the following and this is not an exhaustive list:

• Giving you advice on whether any tax savings are possible.
• Dealing with and settling the tax affairs of the deceased person.
• Dealing with any tax liabilities during the winding up of the estate.
• Aiding with funeral arrangements.
• Calculating any inheritance tax on assets and advising on possible means of reducing any potential liability.
• Arranging valuation of assets in the estate.
• Arranging the sale or auction of any assets.
• Making payments of any debts and legacies.
• Dealing with the sale of any assets or property.
• Obtaining the grant of probate or letters of Administration.
• Cashing in and/or collecting and distributing the assets to the beneficiaries in accordance with the will.

There are 2 main key stages in the Administration of an estate and these are set out below. Pre-Grant work involves:

• Initially meeting with the executors of the estate in order to discuss the estate and complete our probate questionnaire.
• Verifying details of all assets and liabilities of the deceased person.
• Obtaining valuations of any assets and liabilities of the deceased person’s estate.
• Preparing where relevant the Inland Revenue papers.
• Drafting and preparing executors’ Staement.
• Arranging a further meeting with the executors to review and finalise matters and sign the necessary paperwork required for the grant of probate application.
• Finally obtaining the grant of probate.

Following Grant of Probate, the following work needs to be dealt with:

• Drafting and preparing any necessary section 27 a Trustee At notices.
• Cashing in or realising all assets that will be required to be liquidated.
• Paying all outstanding debts, funeral expenses, inheritance tax and any legacies to the beneficiaries.
• Making bankruptcy searches and paying any pecuniary legacies.
• Finalising the estate/account.
• Corresponding with the Inland Revenue to obtain any letters of clearance for the purposes of inheritance tax.
• Providing the executors with estate accounts for approval.
• Once approved sending the estate accounts to the residuary beneficiaries for approval.
• Making any bankruptcy searches and distributing the residuary estate in accordance with the will.
• Dealing with any outstanding income tax matters of the deceased until the date of death.
• Finalising and completing a Trust and Estate Tax Return for the period of Administration

Costs – Probate (uncontested) cases with all assets in the UK

A simple Administration of a simple estate is likely to incur Pre-Grant costs of £1200 plus vat for this stage. Following Grant of Probate the likely costs to be incurred are £1200 plus vat for this stage, making a total of £2400 plus VAT.

Average Costs for Estate Administration

The average cost for dealing with estate Administration is likely to be in the following arrange:

Pre-Grant stage at a charge rate of £250.00 per hour plus VAT where it is envisaged that the time likely to be spent is between 10-15 hours, £2500 to £3750 plus VAT.

Following Grant of Probate stage at a charge rate of £250.00 per hour plus VAT where it is envisaged that the time likely to be spent is between 10-15 hours, £2,500 to £3,750 plus VAT.

The total time involved is an average of 20 to 30 hours and the total average costs on an hourly basis of £250.00 per hour plus VAT will amount to £5,000 to £7,500 plus VAT.

There are other factors listed below and if these are relevant then the costs of a simple Administration of the estate or the average cost of the estate will increase. The factors are as follows:

• The estate has more than 2 properties.
• The estate is worth over £1 million.
• Sale of estate property as to be dealt with.
• The costs of inheritance tax that is payable together with any capital gains tax.
• There are assets abroad or in foreign jurisdictions.
• Whether any claims made by any of the beneficiaries or creditors or there is any kind of the dispute in relation to the estate.
• There are several beneficiaries.
• Where a deed of variation needs to be prepared.
• Whether there are any private company shares owned by the deceased.
• Whether there are any public limited company shares owned by the deceased.
• Whether there is an investment portfolio owned by the deceased.
• There are complex business matters/affairs.
• Whether assets are to be transferred to the beneficiaries instead of any residue.
• There are several bank accounts.
• Whether any issues arise over the ownership of assets owned at the time of death by the deceased.

Timescales

On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 6-8 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 6-20 weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 4-6 weeks. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes another 3-4 weeks

Disbursements

These are payments to a third party or out-of-pocket expenses There may be certain other expenses, including payments we make on your behalf, such as Court fees, fees for medical reports and barrister’s fees, which you will have to pay. VAT is payable on certain expenses. You accept that we have your authority to incur such disbursements (to a maximum of £1000.00) unless you notify us in writing otherwise. The usual payments made as disbursements on uncontested probate matters are as follow:

Probate Registry Fees are £270.00 together with a payment of £.50 per office copy Grant of Probate/Grant of Letters of Administration (No VAT payable).

Costs of Section 27 Trustee Act Notices - it is often that executors will place a notice in the London Gazette and or a local paper to verify and confirm that the estate is being administered and following the expiration of 2 months the personal representatives/executors would be free from any liability for death which had not been dealt with during the winding up of the estate. This is designed to protect executors and the cost is usually in the region of £250 plus VAT.

Where beneficiaries are receiving money bankruptcy searches are carried out before distributing any money to them. The cost of a bankruptcy search is £2.00 per beneficiary (no vat is payable). There are often beneficiaries who live abroad and the cost of carrying out foreign bankruptcy searches will vary. We will notify you of the costs for foreign bankruptcy searches before incurring the charges.

Will Search - sometimes it becomes necessary to carry out a will search to ascertain whether a will has been registered with Certainty (the National Wills Register) and the cost of this is £90.00 plus VAT.

It may become necessary to carry out a share valuation if the deceased held shares and in order to obtain a professional share valuation will need to be carried out, such valuations incur charges of between £1000 - £1500 plus VAT.

Asset searches – if asset searches need to be carried out to ascertain the whereabouts of assets these are usually in the region of £135 plus VAT.

If there are any changes in the figures notified above, we will consult with you first and notify you of the changes before incurring charges/disbursements.

Whether it relates to fees or disbursements, where VAT is chargeable, it is at the standard rate which is currently 20%.

There are other factors which may cause the estimates to increase and this will incur further charges and are not included in the charges mentioned above these include factors such as:

• Giving you advice regarding any claims by beneficiaries and or creditors.
• Dealing with any conveyancing aspects in relation to the sale of the property.
• Advice on foreign assets.
• Preparing a deed of variation.
• Giving you advice on any potential litigation claims by beneficiaries.

Costs - Wills

• Mirror Wills for a couple - £450 plus VAT
• Single Will - £200 plus VAT

The preparation of wills are not charged on an hourly basis and include the initial meeting taking instructions and providing you with a draft for approval and once approved finalising a final copy ready for execution in our presence.

If it transpires that the proposed work or not forward in a fixed fee arrangement, an hourly charge rate of £250.00 per hour plus VAT will be charged, and we will inform you of this before commencing work if any of the following factors apply:

• Issues with capacity;
• Meetings are to take place somewhere other than our offices;
• Prolonged correspondence;
• You require tax advice;
• You wish to set up a trust;
• Substantial changes to your instructions following preparation of draft documentation; or
• Foreign assets or foreign domicile.

For a straightforward family type will the work on average will take around 3 hours to complete, including overseeing the signing of the documents.