Comfort & expertise

Our Fees

We understand that coping with the death of a person can bring a mixture of emotions and the legal side of dealing with a person’s death can often be overwhelming and confusing. Having compassionate, experienced legal advice can make this difficult situation much easier on you and your loved ones.

Grant of probate

Probate is the legal right granted to a person (or more than one person) to deal with someone else’s property, money and possessions after they die. This is also sometimes referred to as dealing with someone’s estate.

It can be a particularly difficult time following someone’s death. However our experienced team is able to assist you with the probate process, reducing the administrative burden and advising sensitively on decisions which need to be made when managing an estate. At Martin Kaye Solicitors, we are aware that the probate process comes at a time of grief and high emotion, and that most people aren’t aware of the processes and legal requirements involved.

We will give you a clear time frame of how long the process should take and will keep you and any beneficiaries updated. You will be able to contact a member of our team when you have any questions by telephone, email or in person.

Probate and Estate Administration Costs, (uncontested with all assets in the UK)

Our costs and timescales are dependent upon the complexity of the matter and size of the estate, but in most cases, we can provide you with a fixed fee for the work to be carried out, before we proceed.
If we are unable to offer with a fixed fee, we will provide you with our hourly rates together with an estimate of the time it will take to complete the matter.
All our fixed fee costs are plus VAT at 20% and disbursements.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees and Land Registry Fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smooth process.

The below estimates are for guidance purposes only as each estate varies.

Solely Obtaining the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration

This is purely for making the application on your behalf and does not include dealing with any of the estate assets. It relies on you providing the valuations and all the relevant information to us. We can help you through this difficult process by obtaining the Grant of Probate on your behalf. You can then proceed to administer the estate yourself. This is Solely to obtain Grant of Probate.
In these circumstances we will usually charge a fixed fee starting at £995 + VAT at 20% plus disbursements.

Our fixed fees are set out as follows for undertaking the work detailed:

Our fees for a basic application for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration are £995 plus VAT of £199, making a total of £1,194 and disbursements. This is a basic application where we will complete and submit the probate application to the Probate Registry but where no claim is required for Residence Nil Rate Band and the HMRC long form application IHT400 is not required.
Our fees for an application where there is no inheritance tax payable but the estate requires a residence nil rate band application and or a long form HMRC application (IHT 400) are £1750 plus VAT of £350, total £2,100 and disbursements. We will complete and submit the probate application to the Probate Registry and prepare and submit the IHT400 and supporting schedules to HMRC. Please note, this does not include work required if agricultural relief or business property relief is to be claimed which will incur additional fees.
Our fees for an application where there is inheritance tax payable are £2500 plus VAT of £500, total £3,000 and disbursements. We will complete and submit the probate application to the Probate Registry and prepare and submit the IHT400 and supporting schedules to HMRC, including those to claim transferable nil rate band and residence nil rate band where applicable. We will also complete form IHT423 if applicable to arrange payment of inheritance tax. Please note, this does not include work required if agricultural relief or business property relief is to be claimed which will incur additional fees.

Once the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration are obtained this is forwarded to the Executors to enable them to administer the estate and our involvement ceases.

Full Estate Administration

In most cases we can provide a fixed fee, subject to the circumstances of each case as follows:

Estates consisting of one property, three bank accounts and two beneficiaries with no inheritance tax our fees are normally £2000 + VAT at 20% of £400 making a total of £2400 plus disbursements.
Estates consisting of one property, three bank accounts and two beneficiaries but inheritance tax due our fees are normally £3000 + VAT at 20% of £600 making a total of £3600 plus disbursements.
Estates consisting of two properties, six bank accounts, six gifts to be made, 4 sets of shares inheritance tax to be paid and four beneficiaries our fees are normally £5000 + VAT at 20% of £1000 making a total of £6000 plus disbursements.
Estates consisting of one property, no inheritance tax, twenty bank accounts spread across shares and investments, twelve gifts to be made, two beneficiaries our fees are normally £5000+ VAT at 20% of £1000 making a total of £6000 plus disbursements.

Disbursements

These include but are not limited to:

Probate fee – £300 plus additional copies of the Grant £1.50 each

Bankruptcy searches – £2 for each beneficiary if based in the UK

Statutory advertisements – individual quotations would need to be obtained but these are in the region of £250 + VAT at 20%

Land Registry office copy Fees – From £7+ vat

Property Valuations & Share Valuations – Dependant on the fees charged by the Valuer

The average hourly charging rate for Solicitors is: £250 plus VAT of £50 per hour.

Full details of individual’s charge out rates are included in the client care pack that is sent to you following instruction.

We can either act to obtain the grant of probate and letters of administration or we can act in the administration of the entire estate.

Timescales

Obtaining the Grant of Probate will usually take between 12-20 weeks once all information has been received to enable the application to be prepared and you have signed and returned the application to us. Estate administration can take between 6-18 months depending on the complexity of the estate.

Stages of Probate – full estate administration service (not included in Grant of Probate only Service)

Provide you with a dedicated and experience probate solicitor to work on your matter.
Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries.
Advise the executors or administrators of the work that is required to administer the estate.
Liaise with you and obtain details and valuations of all of the assets and liabilities of the estate as required for the Probate Registry application and any HMRC inheritance tax Applications.
Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application and apply for an IHT reference number if required.
Draft and submit the Probate Application and any relevant HMRC forms after they are approved by you.
Obtain the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration as the case may be and provide you with a copy.
Collect in all of the assets / transfer assets – as applicable.
Discharge all estate liabilities from funds available.
Advise separately on any trust arising under the Will or intestacy.
Prepare estate accounts showing full details of all assets, liabilities, financial transactions and distribution of the estate.
Distribute the estate in accordance with the terms of the Will or the intestacy rules.

Matters not included in our fees:

Registering the death.
Arranging the funeral.
Administering assets outside of England and Wales.
Administration of an estate which is or become insolvent.
Work involved in any dispute in connection with the estate. For instance, disputes between executors / beneficiaries, claims made against the estate by creditors or by an individual who claims that the deceased did not make adequate financial provision for them, or that the Will is invalid.
Property work such as conveyancing involved with the sale of property or the transfer of property to beneficiaries or updating Land Registry records.
Work arising from gifts made by the deceased during his or her lifetime.
Any work required re the rectification or variation of a Will or variation of intestacy laws.
Preparation and submission of income tax or capital gains tax returns.
Registering a trust on the HMR Trust Registration Service.
Work involved in tracing missing beneficiaries or executors.

Our team will represent you during every step. This includes;

meeting with you – either in through video call or in person – to discuss you matter in detail
advising you about to identify the type of application you need
preparing and submitting the documents you need, including the application to the Probate Court and any HM Revenue & Customs inheritance tax forms
monitoring those applications, chasing where required, and handling enquires that may be received back
supplying the grant of probate to you

For more information, please contact Jemma Blake who is a Solicitor or June Noto who is a Legal Assistant on 01952 525927 or jemmablake@martinkaye.co.uk or junenoto@martinkaye.co.uk.

Comfort & expertise

Our Fees

Grant of probate

Probate is the legal right granted to a person (or more than one person) to deal with someone else’s property, money and possessions after they die. This is also sometimes referred to as dealing with someone’s estate.

We will give you a clear time frame of how long the process should take and will keep you and any beneficiaries updated. You will be able to contact a member of our team when you have any questions by telephone, email or in person.

Probate and Estate Administration Costs, (uncontested with all assets in the UK)

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees and Land Registry Fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smooth process.

Solely Obtaining the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration

Once the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration are obtained this is forwarded to the Executors to enable them to administer the estate and our involvement ceases.

Full Estate Administration

In most cases we can provide a fixed fee, subject to the circumstances of each case as follows:

Disbursements

These include but are not limited to:

Probate fee – £300 plus additional copies of the Grant £1.50 each

Bankruptcy searches – £2 for each beneficiary if based in the UK

Statutory advertisements – individual quotations would need to be obtained but these are in the region of £250 + VAT at 20%

Land Registry office copy Fees – From £7+ vat

Property Valuations & Share Valuations – Dependant on the fees charged by the Valuer

The average hourly charging rate for Solicitors is: £250 plus VAT of £50 per hour.

Full details of individual’s charge out rates are included in the client care pack that is sent to you following instruction.

We can either act to obtain the grant of probate and letters of administration or we can act in the administration of the entire estate.

Timescales

Obtaining the Grant of Probate will usually take between 12-20 weeks once all information has been received to enable the application to be prepared and you have signed and returned the application to us. Estate administration can take between 6-18 months depending on the complexity of the estate.

Stages of Probate – full estate administration service (not included in Grant of Probate only Service)

Matters not included in our fees:

Our team will represent you during every step. This includes;

For more information, please contact Jemma Blake who is a Solicitor or June Noto who is a Legal Assistant on 01952 525927 or jemmablake@martinkaye.co.uk or junenoto@martinkaye.co.uk.

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