Services and Pricing

Our approach to fees is to give you clarity about our fees and a choice about the extent of our involvement and consequently the level of our fees.

As part of this approach, our involvement ranges from a “Grant-only” service (allowing the Personal Representatives to deal with all of the administration themselves) through to dealing with all of the work required to ensure the that the whole estate is dealt with.

GRANT-ONLY APPLICATIONS - Fixed fee

This is where we will prepare the application based upon estate information supplied by you. You will be responsible for collecting the information about the estate and providing this to us in order that we may prepare and apply to the Probate Registry for the appropriate Grant.  Once the Grant is obtained you will be responsible for administering the assets of the estate, accounting to the beneficiaries and dealing with any tax and trusts that may be relevant in the circumstances.

Excepted Estate 

In cases where the value of the estate means that the application for the Grant can be dealt with without the lodgement of a full Inheritance Tax Account (IHT400), our fee is £1,250.00 plus VAT. There are also disbursements in the form of:

  • A Probate Court fee of £300.00 (with an additional charge of £1.50 for each copy).

Full Disclosure to HMRC

In cases where the value or circumstances of the estate mean that a full Inheritance Tax Account (IHT400) is required (whether or not inheritance tax is due) can also benefit from our fixed fee service if you would prefer that we do not undertake the full administration of the estate.

We will calculate our fees on a case-by-case basis and this will depend upon several factors such as whether inheritance tax must be calculated and paid, the number of assets that need to be recorded in the forms that accompany the IHT 400 and the number of schedules to the IHT400 that are required. 

We reserve the right not to take instructions where we are not asked to conduct the full estate administration. This would be where, in the opinion of the legal advisor concerned, the completion of the IHT400 is not possible unless we assist with the assessment of the estate and ongoing communications with HMRC.

Full Estate administration – Estimated fee 

Some families ask us to deal with the whole of the administration on their behalf. In such a case, we will contact all the organisations relevant to the estate, collate the information required to apply for the Grant, obtain the Grant and close the accounts concerned. Our professional services in matters such as this are charged at a combination of a value element plus our hourly charging rate.

If the estate involves a house, we may also deal with its sale although this is handled separately by our property team and they will provide a separate quote for their work. It may be appropriate to make an interim distribution from the estate assets already collected. This will be dependent upon the cash available against the liabilities of the estate amongst other factors such as the tax position of the estate with HMRC.

We will prepare accounts showing how the administration has been dealt with and circulate the accounts amongst the executors and residuary beneficiaries for approval. Finally, we will deal with the distribution of the estate in accordance with those accounts which will be based upon the Will or the statutory rules of intestacy (where someone has not made a valid or complete Will).

Because each estate is different, we are unable to give an estimate that will apply to all estates. However, it is possible for us to give you an estimate of our fees when dealing with a straightforward matter where you’ve asked us to deal with the whole of the administration.

Example quote

  • In this example we will assume an estate comprises of a property valued at £250,000 and cash assets totalling £50,000 (total value of the estate being £300,000), which is not subject to inheritance tax. The following assumptions are also made when formulating this quote.
  • There is a valid Will.
  • There is no more than one property.
  • There are no more than four bank or building society accounts.
  • There are no other intangible assets.
  • There are two to four Beneficiaries.
  • There are no disputes between Beneficiaries regarding the division of assets. If disputes arise, this is likely to lead to an increase in costs.
  • There is no inheritance tax payable.
  • The Executors do not need to submit a full account of the estate to HMRC.
  • There are no claims made against the estate.
  • We anticipate the administration of the estate would take twelve hours of work at an average charging rate of £210 per hour.

Hourly Rates

Our hourly rates are set annually and range from £120 per hour for a Paralegal to £300 per hour for a Partner. All rates are subject to adding VAT. We will ensure work is carried out by the correct person. This means that work is allocated based upon the experience of the individual and their ability to perform the work. The hourly rate will therefore be charged that is appropriate to the work being carried out.  All our work is undertaken in accordance with our own staff supervisory structure to ensure appropriate standards of expertise are delivered. 

We will also let you know should it become clear that we will not be able to conclude the matter within the timescale that we anticipated at the outset. We will let you know why this is the case and before we do any more work, we will ask you to agree the basis upon which we have revised our fee estimate.

Value Element

In addition to charging for the time we spend, we also charge a value element. If Smith Partnership Solicitors are not appointed as executors of the estate, this is calculated as follows:
 
•    0.5% of the value of the residential property plus VAT, plus:
•    1% of the gross value of the estate (less the value of the residential property) plus VAT.

If Smith Partnership Solicitors are appointed as executors of the estate, then the value element uplift would be calculated as follows:

•    0.75% of the value of the residential property plus VAT, plus:
•    1.5% of the gross value of the estate (less the value of the residential property) plus VAT.

Example quote range with hourly rate and value elements charged

As a consequence of the above explanation about our hourly rates and the value element, in our example our total legal fees are estimated to be between £4,270 and £5,145 plus VAT depending upon whether we are or are not appointed Executors.


The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if there is one beneficiary and no property, costs will be at the lower end of the scale. If the estate involves multiple Beneficiaries, a property and multiple bank accounts, costs will be at the higher end.  

 

DISBURSEMENTS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS FEE

  • Probate application fee of £300.
  • If any additional copies of the Grant are required, they will cost £1.50 each (usually one per asset).
  • Bankruptcy–only Land Charges Department searches at £2.00 per UK beneficiary plus VAT (overseas beneficiaries – costs vary).
  • Land Registry fees associated with property that is part of the estate.
  • Travel costs if we need to attend meetings in person.
  • Notices in the London Gazette and local newspaper at approximately £220.00, which protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.

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

POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL COSTS

  • If there is no Will and it means that we must instruct a missing beneficiary agency there will be additional costs of that agency. 
  • Smith Partnership fees for dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included.
  • Third party professional fees for dealing with tax matters such as income tax or capital gains tax arising in an estate are not included.
  • Third party professional fees for registering trusts that arise under the estate are not included.
  • Third party fees for the valuation of stocks, shares, land and property are not included.
  • Third party fees for acting in the disposal of stocks and shares or other assets such as those that may require administration overseas are not included.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?

On average, estates similar to the one in our example are dealt with within 6-12 months. Obtaining a Grant of Probate is currently taking up to 16 weeks. This is followed by the collection of assets, which can take between 4-8 weeks, although it may take longer. The distribution of these assets varies depending on the circumstances as each estate is different for example, the administration of an estate that involves the sale of a house will take longer as will estate where inheritance tax is relevant and ongoing correspondence with HMRC is required.

disputes in estate administration 

If the estate becomes contentious, or if there is a dispute amongst the beneficiaries or the Personal Representatives or if a claim against the estate is made, then we will refer you to the Contentious Trusts and Estates team at Smith Partnership that specialises in the resolution of these disputes.  We will explain the impact of this upon the existing fee level estimate and our Contentious Trusts and Estates Team will separately advise how they charge. In the unfortunate event of a dispute the conclusion of the estate administration may stop until the dispute has been resolved.