Probate and Estate Administration Services

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Probate and Estate Administration Services

The death of a loved one is an upsetting experience that most of us will face during our lifetime. This difficult time can be made more stressful if you are the person left to deal with the paperwork involved in administering that person’s estate in order to finalise their legal and financial affairs.

Here at Coodes we have a team of specialists who can help guide you through the administration of the estate. Our dedicated team of experts deal with straightforward estates through to estates involving farming and business assets, the estates of non-UK residents, those involving overseas assets and beneficiaries and insolvent estates.

We offer different levels of service to assist you depending on the help and support that you would like when dealing with the various stages of the process. These are outlined below:

Fixed Fee Probate Applications

There may be certain circumstances whereby you only require assistance in applying for and obtaining the Grant of Representation (Grant of Probate or a Grant of Letters of Administration). We are happy to help you through this difficult process by carrying out the work required for a fixed fee.

This type of application is usually only suitable where the deceased’s estate is less than the Nil Rate Band (currently £325,000) at the date of the deceased’s death, or may be valued at more than this but is not taxable for Inheritance Tax purposes. Please see below if you need to apply for a Transferable Nil Rate Band.

You will:

Provide a list of the assets and liabilities of the estate with values as at the date of death.
Provide the death certificate.
Where appropriate provide the original Will.
Deal with the post grant administration. This includes: the sale or transfer of the assets, payment of liabilities, preparation of estate accounts and distribution to beneficiaries.

We will:

Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate lawyer to work on your matter.
Accurately identify the type of probate application you will require.
Draft the Oath for Executor or Administrator (as appropriate).
Prepare HM Revenue and Customs form IHT205.
Arrange for the signing and swearing of the documents.
Submit the application to the Probate Registry.
Upon receipt of the grant we will provide you with copies.

We will not:

Undertake any verification of the asset values.
Deal with any of the pre or post grant administration.
Notify or contact any of the beneficiaries.

Our fixed fee probate application costs will be £850.00 plus VAT and disbursements. The likely disbursements will be:

Probate Court fee of £155.00 (additional copies are charged at 50p per copy)
Oath fees starting at £5.00 per executor.

Estates in excess of the Nil Rate Band – Additional costs

If the deceased’s estate is in excess of the Nil Rate Band (currently £325,000) but below £650,000, and the deceased is a widow or widower or survived their civil partner then it may be possible to claim the Transferable Nil Rate Band.

When one party to a marriage or civil partnership dies and does not use up all of their Nil Rate Band the unused proportion can be claimed by the survivor’s personal representatives and added to the survivor’s Nil Rate Band.

If, when the first spouse or civil partner died, they did not use any of their own Nil Rate Band, then the Inheritance Tax form IHT217 may be completed in addition to the above form IHT205.

In order to do this:

You will:

Provide a copy of the first deceased’s will.
Provide a copy of the first deceased’s death certificate;
Provide a copy of any Grant of Representation taken out in the first deceased’s estate.
Provide a copy of any Deed of Variation of the first deceased’s estate.
Provide a copy of the marriage certificate.
Confirm that the first deceased was domiciled (had their home) in the UK.
Confirm that all of the first deceased’s estate passed to exempt beneficiaries (i.e. their spouse or charity).
Confirm that the first deceased did not have jointly owned assets that passed to anyone other than the surviving spouse.
Confirm that the first deceased did not make any gifts or other transfers during the seven years before they died. Also, confirm that they were not exempt from Inheritance Tax.
Confirm that no claim for any Agricultural Property Relief or Business Property Relief was made. This can be either in relation to the first deceased’s estate or any lifetime gifts made by them.
Confirm that the first deceased did not make any Gifts with Reservation of Benefit during their lifetime.
Confirm that the first deceased was not a beneficiary of a Trust.

We will:

Complete form IHT217 on the basis of the information which you have provided to us. We will submit this to the Probate Registry with the IHT205 and Oath.

We will not:

Be verifying any of the information which your provide to us.

Our fixed fee probate application costs will be £950.00 plus VAT and disbursements. The likely disbursements will be:

Probate Court fee of £155.00 (additional copies are charged at 50p per copy)
Oath fees starting at £5.00 per Executor.

Estate Administration Services

This involves identifying the assets of the estate, valuing the assets and liabilities, completing the Inheritance Tax Return and Oath applying for the Grant, collecting in assets, settling liabilities from estate assets and distributing the estate to the beneficiaries.

For the administration of a simple estate we would anticipate spending approximately 12 hours in dealing with matters at between £160.00 and £260.00 per hour plus VAT. Therefore, the overall costs (excluding disbursements) are likely to be between £1,920.00 and £3,120.00 plus VAT.

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 towards the lower end of the range. If there are multiple beneficiaries, a property and multiple bank accounts then costs will be at the higher end of the range.

This quote is for estates where:

There is a valid UK Will.
There is no more than one freehold or leasehold property.
There are no more than five bank or building society accounts.
There are no other intangible assets, such as Stocks and Shares, Unit and Investment Trusts.
There are between one and five beneficiaries.
There are no disputes between beneficiaries or claims against the estate.
The estate is not subject to Inheritance Tax.
No Inheritance Tax Return is required to be prepared and sent to HM Revenue and Customs.

In addition to our fees and VAT the following disbursements may be incurred:

Probate Court fee of £155.00 (additional copies are charged at 50p per copy)
Oath fees starting at £7.00 per Executor.
Bankruptcy searches (for UK based beneficiaries) £2.00 per beneficiary. Please note that if a beneficiary resides overseas the costs will be substantially greater.
Lodging statutory notices under section 27 Trustee Act 1925. This protects you in your role as Executor or Administrator from claims from unknown creditors. These costs vary depending on the publication.

Disbursements are payable to third parties, such as the fee payable to the Probate Court. We will handle the payment of disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process and reclaim these from the estate once the Grant of Probate is to hand.

If the estate is more complex than outlined above then additional costs may be incurred. This is likely to arise where:

There is no valid Will.
There is more than one freehold or leasehold property.
There are more than five bank or building society accounts.
The deceased held shares or unit or investments trusts.
The deceased held an interest in a business.
There are substantial lifetime gifts or chargeable transfers which require tracing and investigation.
An Inheritance Tax Account (such as IHT400) is required to be sent to HM Revenue and Customs.
The estate is liable to Inheritance Tax.
The deceased was a beneficiary of a trust.
There are disputes as to the validity of the Will, or between the beneficiaries or claims made against the estate.
We are asked to finalise the deceased’s Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax position to the date of death and/or during the period of administration.

In addition to the above, if we are asked to assist you with the sale or transfer of the deceased’s property then our Conveyancing Team would be pleased to give you a separate costs estimate.

Once you have provided us with full details of the assets and liabilities of the estate we would anticipate obtaining the Grant of Probate within two to three months. Normally we would anticipate completing the estate administration within a further two to three months. However, the administration could be delayed by the following factors:

If there is a property to sell then it may not be possible to complete the administration until a buyer has been found and the sale successfully completed. This may take longer that the rest of the administration.
Also, Executors of an estate have to be aware of and deal with any potential claims against it. For claims under The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, there is a period of ten months from the date Probate is issued during which time it is unsafe to distribute funds. Executors have to acknowledge and take the appropriate steps to deal with any such claims during this period. It is our firm’s policy to advise all Executors not to distribute funds to beneficiaries before ten months have elapsed from the date of the Probate. The Executors may fully appreciate that the likelihood of any such claims is very remote but failure to take notice of this can leave them personally liable if such a situation arose. The Executors may consider, in appropriate circumstances, obtaining Indemnities from the beneficiaries to allow an early distribution.