Probate and Administration of Estates
Why instruct Swinburne Snowball & Jackson Solicitors?
As part of our professional rules, we aim to ensure that anyone wishing to use our services has the information they need to make an informed choice of legal services provider, including understanding what the costs may be.
At Swinburne Snowball & Jackson Solicitors we offer a friendly and efficient service in helping you to plan for the future. Based in Consett and accredited against the Law Society Lexcel standard, our approach to clients is one of friendliness and efficiency. Our services include advice about preparing a Will, creating a Lasting Power of Attorney and Estate Planning. We are also able to assist with estate administration after a loved one has died. We understand that this is a very difficult time and our aim is to make the administration of an estate as easy for our clients as possible. We are regularly instructed by executors to administer and distribute estates or the firm itself is appointed as the executor.
Occasionally clients feel comfortable distributing the estate themselves and seek our assistance in obtaining the Grant of Probate only. We can also help in situations when someone dies without a Will or where a Will has not been located. The administration of an estate in these circumstances is often more complicated but it is our aim to make this as straightforward for you as possible.
Likewise, we are also highly experienced in dealing with Inheritance Act claims. We offer a committed service and strive to provide grounded and robust advice to ensure that you do not enter into any unnecessary proceedings.
To assist our clients, we have set out below an indication of the likely costs involved in Probate matters along with an indication of the timescales.
Our Probate Team
Alan Brown
Chartered Legal Executive and Head of Probate
Alan is a Chartered Legal Executive specialising in Conveyancing and Probate. He is currently Head of Conveyancing and deals mostly with Residential Conveyancing. He joined the practice from school in 1974 and was admitted as a Legal Executive in 1982.
He offers welcome help to families of bereaved, mostly former clients of his, who require advice and assistance in obtaining a Grant of Probate or Administration to close bank accounts, administer an estate or sell a property.
Alan is also supported by:
Allison Thompson, Chartered Legal Executive.
Typical Costs
Estate Administration: Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets
What the service includes:
- Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor to work on your matter
- Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
- Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
- Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application and liaise with all relevant organisations
- Complete the Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms
- Draft a legal oath for you to swear
- Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
- Obtain the Probate and securely send two copies to you
- Deal with the closure of accounts, collect in estate funds and pay any liabilities
- Prepare a final estate account and distribute legacies to beneficiaries
Administration of estates work is normally charged on a time spent basis whereby we multiply an hourly rate by the estimated number of hours required to complete the work.
Hourly rate (excl. VAT) £200.00
VAT at 20% £40.00
Hourly rate (incl.VAT) £240
These matters typically can take between 8 and 20 hours of work at £200.00 per hour. Total costs are estimated at between £1,600 – £4,000 plus VAT of 20% making a total estimated cost of between £1,920 – £4,800
A typical worked example is set out below.
| Estimated time required | 16 | hours |
| Hourly rate | £200.00 | per hour |
| Our fees | £3,200.00 | excl. VAT |
| VAT at 20%: | £640 | |
| Total | £3,840 | + disbursements (see below) |
In addition to this, we charge a value element of 1% of the gross estate, less the value of any residence that is not being sold, or 0.5% of the value of any residence that is being retained.
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 range. If there are multiple beneficiaries, a property and multiple bank accounts, costs will be at the higher end.
We will handle the full process for you. This applies to estates where:
- There is a valid will
- There is no more than one property
- There are no more than 5 bank or building society accounts
- There are no other intangible assets
- There are 1-9 beneficiaries
- There are no disputes between beneficiaries on the division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
- There is no inheritance tax payable and the executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC
- There are no claims made against the estate
Disbursements1 in addition to this fee include:
- Probate application fee of £273.00
- Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary)
- £102 to post in The London Gazette – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors
- £210 (approx.) to post in a Local Newspaper – This also helps to protect against unexpected claims
1 Disbursement 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 or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there are likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information
- If any additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost £1.50 (1 per asset usually)
- Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included
How long will this take?
It is difficult to estimate with any precision how long a Probate matter will take as it will be influenced by many factors, some of which are outside of our control. However, on average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 6-9 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 8-12 weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 3-6 weeks. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 3-5 weeks.
Probate: Application for Grant Only
What the service includes:
- Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor to work on your matter
- Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
- Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
- Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application
- Complete the Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms
- Draft a legal oath for you to swear
- Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
- Obtain the Probate and securely send two copies to you
Anticipated Charges and Expenses
We can help our clients through this difficult process by obtaining the Grant of Probate on their behalf.
| Fixed Fee | £500 |
| VAT @ 20% | £100 |
| Total | £600 |
Disbursements1 in addition to the above fee:
- A probate court fee of £273.00
- £1.50 per copy of Grant
1 Disbursement 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
There will be additional costs if it is necessary to prepare a full IHT account and we can provide a more accurate quote upon receipt of further information.
How Long will this take?
It is difficult to estimate with any precision how long such a matter will take but, on average, such applications are dealt with and finalised within 3-5 weeks. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 3-4 weeks.