Private client Pricing - Brearleys Solicitors

Wills

Simple Single Will – from £175 plus VAT

Simple Mirror Wills – from £275 plus VAT

Property trust Wills – from £500 plus VAT plus £3.60 Land Registry fee

Complex Discretionary Trust Wills – from £500 plus VAT

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs)

1 x LPA – £350 plus VAT

2 x LPA – £600 plus VAT

4 x LPA – £900 plus VAT

plus registration fees of £82 or £41 (if eligible for 50% fee remission) per Lasting Power of Attorney

plus Recorded Delivery Costs £4.60

Court of Protection

Court of Protection Deputyship application – £950 plus VAT

plus Court application fee, COP3 assessment fee and surety bond disbursements

Other applications will be dealt with on an hourly rate basis at £195 per hour.

Deeds of Variation

From £500 plus VAT

Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets (Simple Estate)

We anticipate this will take between 8 and 10 hours work at up to £250 per hour. Total costs estimated at £2000 and £2500 (+VAT). Final costs are calculated to include 1% of the value of the residuary estate and 0.5% of any property.

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 quote is for estates where:

There is a valid will
There is no more than one property
There are no more than 3 or 4 bank or building society accounts
There are no other intangible assets
There are 1-3 beneficiaries
There are no disputes between beneficiaries on 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

Disbursements to be incurred in addition to our fees:

Probate application fee of £300.00 plus £1.50 per additional copy
Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches £2 plus VAT per beneficiary)
£112.80 (inc VAT) Post in The London Gazette – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
£250-300 inc VAT Post in a Local Newspaper (depends on individual newspaper costs) – This also helps to protect against unexpected claims.
Recorded Delivery Costs £4.60

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.

As part of our fees we will:

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 statement for you to approve and sign
Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
Obtain the Probate and securely send copies to you
Collect and distribute all assets in the estate

Potential additional costs

If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there is 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?

On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 3 to 4 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 10 to 12 weeks or approximately 20-24 weeks if there is no Will. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 4 to 6 weeks. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 2-4 weeks.

As part of our fees we will:

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 statement for you to sign
Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
Obtain the Probate
Collect and distribute all assets in the estate

Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets (Complex Estates)

We anticipate this will take between 15 and 20 hours work at up to £250 per hour. Total costs estimated at £3,750 and £5000 (+VAT). Final costs are calculated to include 1% of the value of the residuary estate plus 0.5% of property value.

We will handle the full process for you. This quote is for estates where:

There are any issues over the validity of any will
There is more than one property
There are more than 3 or 4 bank or building society accounts
There are other intangible assets
There are more than three beneficiaries
There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
There maybe inheritance tax payable and the executors need to submit a full account to HMRC
There are no claims made against the estate

Disbursements to be incurred in addition to our fees:

Probate application fee of £300.00 plus £1.50 per additional copy
Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches £2 plus VAT per beneficiary)
£112.80 (inc VAT) Post in The London Gazette – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
£250-300 inc VAT Post in a Local Newspaper (depends on individual newspaper costs) – This also helps to protect against unexpected claims.
Recorded Delivery Costs £4.60

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.

As part of our fees we will:

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 and pay any inheritance tax due
Draft a legal statement for you to approve and sign
Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
Obtain the Probate and securely send two copies to you
Collect and distribute all assets in the estate

On average, estates that fall within this range are dealt with within 6- 12 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 10 to 12 weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 6 to 8 weeks. Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 3 to 4 weeks.

Probate (fixed fee)

We can help you through this difficult process by obtaining the Grant of Probate on your behalf.

How much does this service cost?

TOTAL: fixed fee of £690 (incl. VAT).

This includes: obtaining the grant and you are responsible for dealing with collecting the and distributing the assets

Breakdown of costs:

Legal fees £575

VAT on legal fees £115

Disbursements:

Probate court fee of £300.
Official Copies of the Grant of Probate (usually one per asset) £1.50 each
Special delivery postage £4.60

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.