Probate Solicitors London & South-East England

The provision of this information is in accordance with The Law Society's Professional Standards and Recommended Good Practice, and we will always provide you with the best information we can about the likely costs including our terms of payment of bills. Please ask us about anything that you would like clarified or explained.

A) CHARGES

The provision of this information is in accordance with The Law Society's Professional Standards and Recommended Good Practice, and we will always provide you with the best information we can about the likely costs including our terms of payment of bills. Please ask us about anything that you would like clarified or explained.

Our charges will be calculated according to:
• A "time element", the time spent by solicitors and legal staff in dealing with the Estate; and
• A "value element", which is a percentage of the gross value of the Estate, as the monetary value involved in one measure of the extent of responsibility falling on this Firm.
We review our charging rates every year. It is our practice to write to you about changes in these rates and tell you about the dates after which the changes will apply.
We give below an explanation of the "time" and "value" factors.
"Time Element"
Solicitors charge according to the amount of time they spend on a matter. The charges are made up of two parts:
• The "expense rate"
This is worked out by looking at the Firm's overheads and represents the cost of the solicitor carrying out the work.
• The "mark-up" known as "care and conduct" or "uplift”.
This is usually a percentage of the expense rate and is the solicitor's commercial profit. This can vary depending on the circumstances such as the urgency and complexity of the matter, but unless we come to a contrary agreement, it is already included in our hourly charge-out rates set out below.

Fee Earner Status

Partners and Senior Solicitors with over 20years post qualification experience(i.e., Lucinda Dore and Daniel Curry)
Solicitor with over 10years post qualification experience
All other Fee Earners and Solicitors

£350.00 plus VAT


£275.00 plus VAT

£225.00 plus VAT

Assistants' time will only be charged if their action progresses the matter and in that case, it will be at the rate of the fee earner relevant to the file.

VAT will be added at the current rate.

For meetings, discussions and other work progressing the administration of the Estate, the hourly charging rates set out above will apply.

If less than one hour is involved, we calculate the time spent in units of six minutes, e.g. one six minute unit = 10 per cent of the hourly rate.

Telephone calls and letters are treated differently:
• Telephone Calls (made and received by us) are recorded in units, each of six minutes.
• Short and routine letters (written and received, including emails) are counted as six minutes each.
• Long letters (two pages or more) are recorded as 12 minutes each. Very long letters will be recorded on a time basis and individually itemised.

Chargeable Item

● Letter/email sent
● Long letter/email sent
● Short letter/email received
● Long letter/email received
● Telephone conversations
● Engrossment of documents per A4 page

Partner & Senior Solicitors

£35.00
£70.00
£35.00
£70.00
£35.00
£35.00

Solicitors

£27.50
£55.00
£27.50
£55.00
£27.50
£27.50

Others

£22.50
£45.00
£22.50
£45.00
£22.50
£22.50

Travel and waiting are treated on a time basis at the hourly charging rate.

Value Element

Travel and waiting are treated on a time basis at the hourly charging rate.

In non-contentious work such as this, there may be a third element to your bill where the solicitor is dealing with something of value such as a property transaction or a probate matter. To reflect the responsibility placed upon the solicitor when dealing with something of value The Law Society has set guidelines for solicitors in determining the value element. It is usual to divide the Estate (the total value of the assets left after a death) into two parts:
• The value of the deceased's home• The value of the remaining Estate
The following percentages would usually be applied except in unusually complex cases, e.g. disputed Wills, missing beneficiaries, overseas assets, etc:

1. The Deceased's home


2. The Rest of the Estate

Additional Expenses

0.5% of the value (if acting for Executors)0.75% of the value (if acting as Executors)
1% of the value (if acting for Executors)1.5% of the value (if acting as Executors)

1. The Deceased's home


2. The Rest of the Estate

Other expenditure will be necessary in dealing with the Estate.
This will include the following which are not subject to VAT:

0.5% of the value (if acting for Executors)0.75% of the value (if acting as Executors)
1% of the value (if acting for Executors)1.5% of the value (if acting as Executors)

1. The Deceased's home


2. The Rest of the Estate

● Probate Registry Fee (for registering the Grant)
● Additional Court copies of the Grant document
● Commissioner's Fee (the charge for swearing the Oath of the Personal Representative)
● Plus for the Will and each Codicil
● Statutory Notice in London Gazette
● Statutory Notice in local paper (e.g. Worthing Herald) as these vary according to publication
● Office Copy Entries

0.5% of the value (if acting for Executors)0.75% of the value (if acting as Executors)
1% of the value (if acting for Executors)1.5% of the value (if acting as Executors)

£273.00
£1.50 each
£5.00

£2.00 each
£150 plus VAT (approx)
£150 plus VAT (approx)

£6.00 plus VAT

Banking Charges

The following charges apply to any funds sent to beneficiaries:

Banking Charges

● T/T, a same day electronic transfer of funds direct to the bank account.
● International overseas payment
● BACS, which is a direct credit payment direct to the bank account which takes three working days to clear

£30.00 (variable)


£40.00 plus VAT (variable)

No charge

B) AMOUNT OF WORK

We estimate that the costs will usually be between about 2-4% of the Value of the Estate. However, the actual costs will be calculated on the "time" and "value" elements as we described above.

It is difficult It is therefore difficult for us to give an accurate estimate of the costs involved and the timescale without an initial face to face or telephone meeting where we can take more detailed information.
We offer the first meeting on a no obligation basis. If you decide to instruct us, then the cost of that meeting is then factored into the overall cost estimate.

When we have the date of death valuations for all of the assets we will then be able to provide an accurate estimate of the "value" element of the costs.

We will be able to give you a more accurate estimate once we have collated more information and will write to you in this regard in two months' time. We will write to you, in any event, if it becomes clear that substantially less or more time will be needed than we expect.

B) AMOUNT OF WORK

C) BILLS

B) AMOUNT OF WORK

We usually submit bills at regular intervals during the administration of Estates. This will keep you informed about charges. If you approve them, both the interim and final bills can be paid from the Estate funds automatically without the need for you to make payment personally.

An interim bill is also usually submitted on securing the Grant of Probate. At this time, we will generally invoice 75% of the "value" element that may be applicable.

If it is likely to be sometime before we can finalise the tax position and complete the administration, we would normally submit a second and further interim bills at monthly intervals.

We will submit a final interim invoice when we are at the stage of completing the Estate Accounts and are preparing to make final distribution to the Residuary Beneficiaries. We will include the remaining 25% of the "value" element at this stage and will provide you with a final estimate of the costs to complete the Estate.

Our final bill will be presented once you have approved the Estate Accounts and the administration is complete.