Uncontested Probate Price Transparency Statement
Our overall fees vary depending upon how complex your case is and what you would like us to do. For a free estate options appointment specifically tailored to your circumstances, please email lawyers.shared@waldrons.co.uk or call 01384 811811 and ask for the Private Client Team. We would be more than happy to discuss your case.
To give you an idea of how we charge however, and to comply the SRA price transparency rules, we have set out below details of our fees.
Our charges are made up of:
- our fees for the legal work;
- ‘disbursements’ – disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to other people, such as probate application fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Where VAT is referred to below please note that this will be charged at the applicable rate, which is currently 20%.
How much do we charge?
Our fees
Standard probate work
Applying for a Grant of Probate and collecting and distributing assets in a ‘simple’ matter is the most common type of probate work which we deal with. Namely, where someone has passed away leaving a valid will which is not disputed, the beneficiaries can be easily ascertained, there is no inheritance tax to pay and there is not a very large or complex estate to divide up.
Our fees for this work will either be agreed with you as a fixed sum at the start of our work together or based on how much time it takes to deal with your case.
We charge fixed fees to just obtain the Grant of Probate. These are as follows:
For estates where no inheritance tax is payable:
£950.00 plus VAT at 20%
For estates where inheritance tax is payable or where the assets require us to use to longer IHT400 Return of Estates form:
£1,350.00 plus VAT at 20%
Our standard hourly rates are between £225.00 plus VAT for one of our Legal Executives or Solicitors and £275.00 plus VAT for an Associate Solicitor or Director. Normally this sort of matter takes between 15 and 20 hours work at between £225.00 per hour (plus VAT at 20%) and £275.00 per hour (plus VAT at 20%) to complete. Total costs therefore tend to be in the region of £3,375.00 – £5,500.00 (plus VAT at 20%). Fixed fees would typically fall within these ball park estimates also. Sometimes, we may also charge an additional fee to reflect the complexity and value of the matter. This is usually 0.5% of the value of property held by the estate and 1% of the value of other assets in accordance with Law Society guidelines but we would discuss this with you beforehand.
The total costs will depend upon how straight forward or complicated the case is. For example, if someone has died leaving only one beneficiary in an undisputed will and no property, then costs would be at the lower end of the range because it will be simple to administer. If there are multiple beneficiaries, a property and multiple bank accounts or shareholdings however, costs will be at the higher end even if the will is still not disputed.
We would still be delighted to work with you in more complicated matters but would need to give you a quotation for the work tailored to your individual circumstances. Please contact us to learn more.
Disbursements
Disbursements are payments that we make to third parties on your behalf. These are separate payments for which the estate is liable in addition to our costs as described above.
Typical disbursements in Probate matters are:
- Probate application fee, which is currently: £300 plus £1.50 for every extra office copy of the Grant of Probate which you require;
- Land Registry search fees (bankruptcy searches), including VAT: £7.20
- Land Registry search fees for the property, including VAT: £8.40
Other additional disbursements which may be necessary are:
- Asset searches: £195.00 plus VAT at 20%
- Trustee Act Notices in the London Gazette: £98.00 plus VAT at 20%
- Will searches: £140.00 including VAT at 20%
We will discuss whether the additional disbursements will be necessary at the time of our estate options appointment.
Other costs to consider
Please note that the costs estimates above do not include any additional costs incurred in disposing of estate assets such as the sale or any property or business.
Key stages of your case
The precise stages involved vary according to the circumstances. The guidance on our fees above covers the work in relation to the following key stages a ‘simple’ probate process:
- Identifying the executors and beneficiaries
- Checking the type of Probate application you will require
- Obtaining the relevant documents required to make the application
- Completing the Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms
- Drafting a legal oath for swearing
- Making the application for probate
- Obtaining the Probate and distributing copies as necessary
- Collecting and distributing the assets of the estate
It would not normally be necessary to undertake other work or incur costs other than those described above. However, we would be very happy to provide you with a more tailored quote for all stages of your particular case once we know about your specific circumstances.
Who will be dealing with my matter?
Your probate matter will be handled by a trusted member of our experienced probate team. We have a number of qualified lawyers in the team as well as experienced paralegals specialised in this area of law. Once we know who will be handling your case for you we will introduce you to them and provide you with full details of their background and qualifications. Full details of the experience and qualifications of our team are available on our website
Dawn Cash | Jessica Bird | Kevin Martin | Tasbiah Shoaib | Cheryl Styles | David Bayliss
Regardless of who is working on your case the matter will be supervised by one of our Directors and/or Heads of Departments:
Joseph Norton | Managing Director and Solicitor | Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence | 15 years PQE
Dawn Cash | Director and Solicitor | Wills and Probate | [ ] years PQE