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The Costs After Grant

The prices quoted on this website, for each of the stages, are for standard, straightforward, non-contested Estate Administrations only.

Our quote for the legal work on your Estate Administration will be calculated based on the estimated amount of time members of the frim will spend on your matter. All legal fees and additional costs quoted on this page include VAT (at the current rate of 20%) where applicable.

Your matter will be progressed by Lawyers in our Wills and Estates team whose details can be found in related people below. Team Leader, Robert Ashworth, assisted by Fiona Ashworth, supervises the work of all of the lawyers in the Wills and Estates team. Please read each profile for information on their qualifications and experience.

Georgia Bolton
Emma Cherry
Fiona Ashworth
Robert Ashworth
Helen Geldart
Ann Coutts
Carlie Brown
View our people

After the Grant of Representation is received (further information on this stage here), what follows is the gathering and distributing the assets according to the Will or the Rules of Intestacy.

If you do not have a valid Will in place at the time of your death then the Rules of Intestacy will determine how your estate will be divided amongst your heirs. These rules can be summarised as follows:

The TSP Wills and Estates team can help with both stages of the estate administration or just the first or second stage. We are happy to be flexible, giving as much support to the Executors / Administrators as needed to ensure the process is completed in an efficient and timely manner.

A standard, straightforward, Estate Administration would typically be where

  • All assets are UK based
  • There is no more than one property in the estate
  • There are no more than 7 other assets such as bank accounts or share holdings
  • There are no business or farming interests
  • There are no more than 5 beneficiaries
  • See FAQ section below for more detail

Our VAT inclusive fixed fees for the work after Grant is received range from £3,000 for a smaller estate where an IHT 400 form is not required to around £20,000 + for an estate with multiple assets (subject to above limits) and beneficiaries (subject to above limits) on which IHT is payable. If the deceased died intestate this may also attract a fee at the upper end of this range.

The level of costs is determined on a case by case basis and will depend on the nature and complexity of the Estate. However, we will provide you with detailed costs information once we established all of the details. The hourly rates of members of the Wills and Estates team are fixed according to their respective levels of experience. Currently, they range from £160.80 (inc VAT) for a Trainee Solicitor / Paralegal to £444 (inc VAT) for a Director / Solicitor. Details of the rates of the relevant individual members of the team will be provided to you at the outset and the work will be undertaken by the individual team member(s) with the appropriate level(s) of experience.

We are required by law to verify our client’s identity and also a number of other types of individual with whom we work, such as executors and trustees, for example. We will charge £10 plus VAT (£12 in total) per individual that we check.  More information on the types of individuals we are required to check can be found in our Terms of Business.

A comprehensive explanation of the key stages of the Estate Administration process can be found here.

In addition to TSP Legal Fees the table below details some of the other costs that might be required depending on the specifics of the estate.

Additional costs after the Grant Includes VAT? From To
Publication of Statutory Notices (if required) Yes £180 £360
UK Bankruptcy Checks (per beneficiary) Yes £2.40 £2.40

In addition to the above costs the executors / administrators will need to account to HMRC for the deceased’s income tax and capital gains tax, both of which will need to be settled from the estate before any distributions are made.

In our FAQ section, you will find important information on

  • Key assumptions about the costs after grant
  • Key exclusions from the costs after grant
  • How long will the work required after grant, take?

 

Frequently Asked Questions

In addition to the assumptions about the estate detailed earlier we also assume that

  • All beneficiaries reside in the UK and can be identified, traced and are at least 18 years of age and able to understand and sign documentation as required
  • There are no material disagreements amongst the beneficiaries
  • Buyers for the assets including the property are found and sales will complete within 6 months of the issue of the grant of probate
  • The will was validly executed and there is no partial intestacy.
  • The estate is solvent.

The following are excluded from the costs quoted above

  • The legal work relating to the sale of the deceased’s main house or any other land or real estate property held at the death. Find out more about the cost of this work here
  • Dealing with any challenges from HM Revenue & Customs or any corrective accounts that need to be submitted post grant
  • Dealing with questions from potentially disappointed beneficiaries.
  • Changes to legislation during course of the estate administration
  • Tracing beneficiaries or engaging genealogists.
  • Any indemnity policies, and associated disbursements, that may be required for potentially missing beneficiaries
  • Trusts in which the deceased was a beneficiary at the date of death
  • Trusts set up by the deceased under the Will
  • Deeds of Variation for the beneficiaries
  • Financial advice on the suitability of the disposal of assets in the estate
  • Personal Taxation of estate beneficiaries
  • The sale of the deceased’s interest in a business or farm. Business or farming advice
  • Restitution for long term care funding incorrectly paid by the deceased

The minimum amount of time usually required to complete the second stage of the estate administration is 6 months. This is because anyone who wishes to make a claim on the estate can do so in the 6 months following the grant. However, in some circumstances the estate may be ready to be finalised before the end of the year, and the Executors can make a decision about distribution at that time. A very complex administration can take a number of years. It should also be noted that HMRC challenges may delay the process and we do not have any control over this.

Contact our Solicitors in Colchester or Clacton

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