Probate Costs

Our team at Myerson has a breadth of experience to provide you with the expert legal support and quality of service you are looking for.

As part of our core values, we provide you with clear and transparent cost information from the outset. 

Working in partnership with you on your requirements, matters are assigned to the most appropriate level of fee earner (always subject to partner supervision) to support you throughout your matter and ensure absolute cost effectiveness and efficiency. 

We set out below a summary of our charges which, when combined with our high quality service, represents excellent value.

We would be happy to discuss our fees with you further, contact us here.  

Our approach to costs

The costs in this guide apply to estate where there is a Will and a Grant of Probate is required, and also where there is no Will and a Grant of Letters of Administration is required.

We break the administration process down into two stages; these being, firstly, the work required to obtain grant of probate, and then, secondly, the work required after a grant is obtained. The amount of work involved will also depend on whether the estate is taxable.

Stage One

Work involved in obtaining a grant of probate/letters of administration includes:

• Initial meeting and fact find
• Advising on process – if there is no Will we will advise on who is entitled to apply for the grant and how the estate will be divided
• Drawing up a schedule of assets and liabilities
• Writing to the various banks where the deceased had accounts, or institutions such as unit trust managers where he or she had investments
• Contacting credit card providers and utility companies to ascertain any sums due from the deceased
• Arranging for valuation of assets, e.g. property, shares etc.
• Preparation of Inheritance tax return
• Statement of Truth
• Arranging to pay Inheritance Tax (if applicable)
• Obtaining grant

No tax or IHT205 where you are providing all information themselves:

Likely fees: £1,250 to £2,050 plus VAT at 20% and disbursements. 

Likely timescales – ready to apply for probate about 4 weeks after you have provided the information, provided it is comprehensive. Probate registry ordinarily issues the grant within 3 weeks of the probate application.

No tax or IHT205 where we are required to obtain asset information and correspond with third parties:

Likely fees: £2,250 to £3,500 plus VAT at 20% and disbursements

Likely timescales – ready to apply for probate about 8 weeks after you have provided the information about the deceased’s estate to enable us to make enquiries. Probate registry ordinarily issue the grant within 3 weeks.

IHT400 required but no inheritance tax payable and you are providing all information:

Likely fees: £2,750 to £4,500 plus VAT at 20% and disbursements

Likely timescales – ready to submit IHT400 within 6 - 8 weeks. HMRC then take around 4 weeks to come back to us before we can submit our application to the probate registry. Probate registry ordinarily issue the grant within 3 weeks.

IHT400 required, no inheritance tax payable but we are required to obtain estate information:

Likely fees: £3,750 to £6,000 plus VAT at 20% and disbursements

Likely timescales – ready to submit IHT400 within 8-12 weeks. HMRC then take around 4 weeks to come back to us before we can submit our application to the probate registry. Probate registry ordinarily issue the grant within 3 weeks.

IHT400 required, inheritance tax payable and you are providing all information:

Likely fees: £3,750 to £6,000 plus VAT at 20% and disbursements

Likely timescales – ready to submit IHT400 within 8-12 weeks. HMRC then take around 4 weeks to come back to us before we can submit our application to the probate registry. Probate registry ordinarily issue the grant within 3 weeks.

IHT400 required, inheritance tax payable but we are required to obtain estate information:

Likely fees: £4,750 to £7,000 plus VAT at 20% and disbursements

Likely timescales – ready to submit IHT400 within 10 – 13 weeks. HMRC then take around 4 weeks to come back to us before we can submit our application to the probate registry. Probate registry ordinarily issue the grant within 3 weeks.

Inheritance tax may be payable on an estate and the tax is not included in our estimate of fees and disbursements. Inheritance Tax is a complicated tax with many liabilities, exemptions and reliefs. We would assess the Inheritance Tax position on an estate once we had the relevant information. You can find out more about when Inheritance Tax is payable here

Inheritance Tax is payable before probate is granted. If the estate includes property, only one-tenth of the tax attributable to the property is payable prior to probate with the balance payable over the next 10 years (interest is charged on the outstanding balance) or on the sale of the property.

Stage Two

Following the grant of probate, the executors must gather in the assets of the deceased, discharge any liabilities and then distribute the estate in accordance with the Will or the intestacy rules.  The work usually involved is:

• Preparation of closure/transfer forms
• Corresponding with banks and organisations to release funds
• Selling property shares and investments
• Collecting in funds
• Settling liabilities
• Dealing with any income received and preparing R185 forms
• Drawing up estate accounts
• Dealing with distribution – including verifying beneficiary ID and information and carrying out bankruptcy searches

Simple, non-taxable estate with a small number of beneficiaries:

Likely fees: £1,500 to £2,500 plus VAT at 20% and disbursements

Likely timescales – 4 to 6 weeks from grant (excluding sale of property).

Larger, non-taxable estate with a small number of beneficiaries:

Likely fees: £3,500 to £4,000 plus VAT at 20% and disbursements

Likely timescale: 6 to 8 weeks from grant of probate (excluding sale of property)

The following disbursements are likely to be incurred:

Probate registry fees:£273 (if the estate is over £5,000)

Additional copies of the grant (per copy): £1.50

Clients who are new to the firm – ID checks: £8.00 per person

Bankruptcy search  - per beneficiary: £2.00 plus VAT

Bank transfer fees – per transfer (within the UK): £30.00

The following additional disbursements may be incurred, depending on the estate, but these are estimates:

Land registry fees: £40

Registration of complex estate with HMRC: £250 plus VAT

Statutory advertisements for creditors: £200 - £300

The following complicating factors will increase our fees and the time involved in dealing with the estate:

• Further properties or assets
• Foreign property or assets
• Multiple beneficiaries
• Charity beneficiaries
• Business property relief or agricultural property relief applies
• Lifetime gifts
• The executors are disposing of assets with a value over £500,000 (whether or not there is a liability to Capital Gains Tax)
• Assets increasing in value significantly between date of death and date of sale
• Missing or damaged Will – affidavits required, may need to locate individuals
• Missing beneficiaries or non-responsive /uncooperative beneficiaries
• Missing share certificates – additional paperwork required
• Missing documents relating to death of first death when NRB needs transferring
• Unusual investments which require more paperwork, e.g. gift and loan trusts
• Income tax affairs are not up to date
• There are a lot of income producing assets or gross income is received during the administrations, which makes dealing with the income position more onerous.
• There are a substantial amount of creditors
• A dispute arises between executors or beneficiaries
• We are required to carry out work normally carried out by family members such as organising valuation of property and jewellery or clearing the property
• If a legal claim is outstanding against the deceased or a claim is made against the deceased's estate or the deceased's will is disputed

Examples of complicating factors on taxable estates only:

• HMRC decide to investigate any part of the IHT 400 form
• Business accounts are not up to date or there is other missing information
• The 36% rate for IHT applies due to charity beneficiaries
• Quick succession relief applies
• There are a large amount of lifetime gifts
• A loan is required to fund the Inheritance Tax
• Assets increasing or reducing in value significantly between date of death and date of sale

Hourly rates of our solicitors

If complicating factors arise then we will charge for the extra time involved based on our standard hourly rates set out below.

Where additional charges apply in such circumstances we will provide you with an accurate estimate of charges for each element of additional work before undertaking that work for you.

All rates are subject to VAT at 20%.