Probate & Debt Recovery Fees

Our probate work is carried out by Mr Wasik Khan, Principal Solicitor and Mr Assam Iqbal. Mr Khan has been qualified since 2001 and his hourly rate is £300.00 per hour plus vat of 20%. Mr Iqbal has been qualified since 2013 and his hourly rate is £220.00 per hour plus vat of 20%.

The prices stated below relate to Estates where there is no dispute regarding the will or any other matter and where no claim is anticipated against the estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975.

When someone dies, it is usually necessary for one or more persons to apply to the Probate Court for authority to administer the estate. If there is a will and the executors are willing to act, then authority given by the court to the executors will be a Grant of Probate. If there is no will or there is no executor willing to act, the authority given by the Court will be a Grant of Letters of Administration which will normally be made to one or more of the persons entitled to the Estate. The persons authorised by the Court to deal with the estate by the Grant of Letters of Administration are known as Administrators. This service is when the client has provided all of the necessary information to enable the application to proceed.

Our service will include:

• Meeting with the executors or proposed administrator of the estate to discuss what the application involves and advising them about what is required;
• Preparing the necessary forms relating to the application and arranging for the executors to sign
• Submitting the application forms to the Probate Registry;
• Sending the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration to the executor or administrator in order for the Executor or Administrator to deal with the administration of the Estate

We charge a fixed price for these services as follows:

• When there is no Inheritance Tax to pay and it isn’t necessary to complete an Inheritance Tax account IHT400. Fixed price of £600.00 plus VAT £120.00.  Total £720.00.
• Where an inheritance tax account IHT400 is necessary but there is no inheritance tax to pay. Fixed price of £1000.00 plus VAT £200.00.  Total £1,200.00.
• Where an inheritance tax account IHT400 is necessary and there is inheritance tax to pay. Fixedprice £1500.00 plus VAT £300.00.  Total £1,800.00.

Administering the Estate

We are able to deal with all aspects of the administration of an estate including the following:

• Meeting with the executors or proposed administrators in order to ascertain what is involved in the estate, advise on the administration process and the duties and responsibilities of an executor/administrator;
• Registering the Grant of Probate with all of the relevant financial institutions so that accounts and investments can be encashed or transferred;
• Paying the debts of the estate including the funeral invoice from the assets in the Estate;
• Notifying the beneficiaries of their entitlement
• Dealing with any matters raised by HM Revenue and Customs in relating to the inheritance tax account
• Dealing with any income tax and/or capital gains tax affairs of the estate and settling any liability
• Paying any legacies or dealing with the transfer of any assets specifically gifted to a beneficiary by the Will;
• On the completion of the administration of the estate, preparing a set of accounts and making payments to the beneficiaries;
• Instructing other professionals where necessary to assist with the administration of the Estate.

We anticipate that our fee for dealing with the administration of the estate and the application  will be within the following ranges:

1. Dealing with the administration of the estate where there is no inheritance tax to pay and there is one property in the estate to be transferred with one bank account and up to two beneficiaries. Fixed Price of £600.00 plus vat of £120.00 (Total £720.00).  There is also land registry fees applicable for the transfer of the property.  The current land registry fees are:-

• Up to £100,000.00 – £40.00 (Nil VAT) – For postal application.
• From £100,001.00 to £200,000.00 – £60.00 (Nil VAT) – For postal application.
• From £200,001.00 to £500,000.00 – £80.00 (Nil VAT) – For postal application.
• From £500,001.00 to £1,000,000.00 – £120.00 (Nil VAT) – For postal application.
• Over £1,000,000.00 – £250.00 (Nil VAT) – For postal application.

2. Dealing with the administration of the estate where there is inheritance tax to pay and there are more than one properties to be transferred, more than one bank accounts and more than two beneficiaries.  Fixed Price of £1,200.00 plus VAT of £240.00 (Total £1,440.00).  There will also be land registry fees that are applicable per property and the rates are as stated above.

Possible Additional costs

The administration of an Estate may become more expensive than the fees stated in the following circumstances:

• The terms of the will are unclear and ambiguous;
• The original will is lost or damaged
• The estate consists of large portfolios of properties and/or shareholdings;
• Asset valuations or claims for exemptions and reliefs are disputed by HMRC;
• Dealing with property or assets outside of England and Wales;
• Where there are Family Trusts;
• Where there have been significant gifts before death that must be declared for inheritance tax purposes;
• Selling or carrying on a business
• The estate is insolvent or there are a very significant number of debts
• The whereabouts of one or more of the beneficiaries is not known

In such circumstances fees can be discussed with the fee earner dealing with the matter and either fees will be charged on the fee earners hourly rate or a fixed price may be agreed.

Fees charged by third parties

In addition to our prices detailed above, the following amounts may also be payable to third parties:

Probate Court Fee*

£170.00 (Nil VAT) including 10 individual sealed copies

Bankruptcy Search Fees* £2.00 (Nil VAT) per beneficiary

Statutory Notices in the London Gazette and a local newspaper (these are sometimes necessary to protect executors against claims from unknown creditors)*

Approximately (£300.00-£350.00- Nil VAT).

*Subject to change

Inheritance Tax

If the whole of an estate is left to a husband/wife or charity, there should be no inheritance tax to pay.

Where more than £325,000 is left to other parties there may be inheritance.  However, there may be allowances that can be claimed which can reduce or even avoid the inheritance tax altogether. Once we have sufficient information from you, we will provide you with an estimate of the tax payable.

Timescales

If you require us to prepare an application for a Grant of Probate or letters of Administration and nothing else then from the time that we have all the information to draft the necessary forms the Grant will normally be issued by the Court within the following timescales:

• Where there is no inheritance tax to pay and no inheritance tax account IHT400 to prepare – approximately about 8 weeks.
• Where it is necessary to complete an inheritance tax account IHT400 – approximately between 12 to 14 weeks.

If we are asked to deal with all or most aspects of the administration of an estate, then this will take longer however we anticipate that most estate can be settled within 12 months from the date of death.

The timescales stated vary depending on the circumstances, for example if there is a property to sell, this can have a bearing on how quickly the estate can be administered. Dealing with third parties can also have an impact on the timescale of administering an estate.

Our debt recovery work is carried out by Mr Wasik Khan, Principal Solicitor and Mr Assam Iqbal.  Mr Khan has been qualified since 2001 and his current hourly rate is £300.00 per hour plus VAT of 20%.  Mr Iqbal has been qualified since 2013 and his current hourly rate is £220.00 per hour plus VAT of 20%.

Our fees to represent you in a debt recovery matter will be £300.00 per hour plus VAT of 20% for Mr Wasik Khan, Principal Solicitor and £220.00 per hour plus VAT of 20%for Mr Assam Iqbal, Solicitor.   There may be additional disbursements in the form of Court and Hearing Fees and also Counsel’s Fees.  It is difficult to give an indication of timescales however, in the event of the matter being dealt with at Court it could take up to a year for a trial to be listed depending on the value of the claim.

We do in certain circumstances agree fixed fees.  For example, such costs would apply where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice which is not disputed and enforcement action is not needed. If the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs if necessary, which could be on a fixed fee (e.g. if a one off letter is required), or an hourly rate if more extensive work is needed.

Debt Value                             Court Fee                        Our Fee                                 Total

Up to £5,000                          £205.00 (Nil VAT)         £600 plus £120 VAT             £925.00

£5001 to £10,000                  £405.00 (Nil VAT)        £700 plus £140 VAT             £1,245.00

£10,001 to £50,000               5% of value of claim    £1,000 plus £200 VAT         Variable

                               (Nil VAT)

Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:

• The VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from your debtor.
• Interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher banding, with a higher cost.
• The costs quoted above are not for matters where enforcement action, such as the bailiff, is needed to collect your debt.

Our fee includes:

• Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation
• Undertaking appropriate searches
• Sending a letter before action
• Receiving payment and sending onto you, or if the debt is not paid, drafting and issuing claim
• Where no Acknowledgment of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter Judgement in default
• When Judgement in default in received, write to the other side to request payment
• If payment is not received within 28 days, providing you with advice on next steps and likely costs

Matters usually take around 8 weeks from receipt of instructions from you to receipt of payment from the other side, depending on whether or not it is necessary to issue a claim. This is on the basis that the other side pays promptly on receipt of Judgement in default. If enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve.