Our Charges

Wills:

Our charges are based on a fixed fee unless otherwise agreed with you at the initial meeting or engagement of instructions.

Our fee for a simple single Will starts at £300 and for a pair of simple Wills our fee starts at £500. Should your Will instructions be more complex, for example including Trusts, our fixed fee may increase in accordance with the complexity, but we will advise you of any fee increase before undertaking any work on your behalf. These rates are exclusive of VAT.

Our service includes attending upon you and receiving your instructions, preparing a draft Will(s) for your consideration and approval and fair copy(s) for your approval and signature. We aim to provide you with a draft within 10 working days of receiving your instructions unless agreed otherwise.

Lasting Powers of Attorney

Our charges are based on a fixed fee unless otherwise agreed with you at the initial meeting or engagement of instructions.

There are 2 types of LPA document; Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Care Decisions. Our fee for assisting with the preparation of a single LPA document is £400 and £600 for a pair of LPA documents. These rates are exclusive of VAT.

Our service includes attending upon you and receiving your instructions to complete LPA documents on your behalf for your consideration, approval and signature and corresponding with the Office of the Public Guardian on your behalf should you wish to register your LPA documents upon completion. Our fee does not include the Office of the Public Guardian registration fee, details of which you can find on their website. We aim to provide you with draft LPA documents within 10 working days of receiving your instructions unless agreed otherwise.

Deputyships

Our fees are based upon an hourly rate due to the nature of the work involved and can take between 7.5 and 12.5 hours. We estimate the fee to be between £2,000 and £3,500. The exact cost depends upon the individual circumstances of the matter, including attending upon you and receiving instruction, completing the necessary forms and all correspondence with the Court of Protection. Our fees do not include the Court of Protection fees details of which you can find on their website. These rates are exclusive of VAT.

Probate

Applying for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration, collecting in assets and distribution

We anticipate this will take between 15 and 25 hours work at £275 per hour; total costs estimated at between £4,125 and £6,875. The costs will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter; for example if there is one beneficairy and no property, costs will be at the lower end of the range. If there are multiple beneficairies, a property and multiple bank accounts, costs will be at the higher end. These rates are exclusive of VAT.

We will handle the full process for you or tailor our service to suit your needs. Our quote is for estates where:

• There is a valid Will
• There is no more than one property in the UK
• There are no more than 4 investment accounts
• There are no other intangible assets
• There are identifiable beneficiaries known to the Executors
• There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
• There are no claims made against the estate

There may also be disbursements to include such as:

• Probate Registry application fees
• Swearing of Oath/Affidavit fees
• Bankruptcy search fees
• Section 27 Notice in the London Gazette and local newspaper – this helps to protect against unexpected claims from unknown creditors
• Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Probate valuation fees. We can at our discretion handle the payment of disbursements on your behalf for a smoother process.

Potential additional costs

If there is no Will or the estate consists of any share holdings there may be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. Also, additional costs may be incurred should it be necessary to correspond with HMRC regarding finalising the Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax positions where required. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.

How long will it take

On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 6-10 months. Typically, obtaining the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration takes 12-16 weeks from receiving instructions. Collecting assets then follows, which can take a further 4-12 weeks. Once this has been done, distribute the assets, which normally takes 2-4 weeks thereafter.