Obtaining Probate

How we can help

The death of a loved one or business colleague is a difficult and emotional time and we understand that dealing with their legal and financial affairs only adds to the stress.

But we are here to help you in a way that works for you – a little or a lot.

We are licenced to carry out non-contentious probate by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. As Chartered Accountants dealing with taxation and accounting matters, we are in a good position to help.

Where the deceased was a client of ours, we should already have a lot of the information necessary to assist the executors in gathering information about their assets.

But don’t worry if they were not a client – we can still deal with the probate application.

If they died without a will, the process is slightly different and is called a Grant of letters of administration rather than a grant of probate.

Our fees

Unlike solicitors and banks who often charge a percentage of the value of the estate, we will provide you with an estimate of costs based on how long we think it will take to complete the work. No two estates are the same!

The size and complexity of the estate will affect the work we need to do. It will also depend upon whether you will assist in the gathering of information.

After our initial meeting, which will be a fee of £250 plus VAT, we will provide you with a schedule of the work to be completed together with an estimate of how much our fees will be. This estimate will normally be provided in a range. If any issues arise that will mean our fee will not be within this range, we will talk to you about this before carrying out the extra work.

You will be charged based the time spent to complete the work plus VAT. Our hourly rates excluding VAT are:

Jon Cleverdon overseeing the probate £250
Karen Cleverdon carrying out detailed work £160

Both Jon and Karen are qualified chartered accountants authorised to carry out non-contentious probate by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

As a guide we would expect our fee up to and including obtaining probate for an excepted estate with no inheritance tax payable to be in the range of £1,800-£3,000 and an estate with HMRC inheritance tax forms to be in the range of £3,800-£7,500. As said above, no two estates are the same and the amount of work required may vary considerably. These fee quotes are excluding VAT.

Once probate has been obtained it is time to distribute the estate. If you would like help with this and the preparation of estate accounts, we can quote for this separately.

Please note that we can only deal with non-contentious probate and should there be a legal challenge, the matter will need to be dealt with by a specialist contentious probate solicitor.

Disbursements

These will be incurred during the course of this work, are subject to separate charge and may include the following:

Fees for obtaining the grant of probate as determined by HM Courts & Tribunal Service
Notification of the death in the London Gazette and local newspaper, if requested, to protect against unknown creditors
Professional fees for the valuation of assets
Bank charges incurred in transferring money to/from our client bank account

How long will it take?

The whole process from start to finish is likely to take 6-12 months from date of death, but some may take several years. Factors that can influence this include the number, size and complexity of assets and if there are disputes or legal challenges.

Before the application is submitted the time can vary depending on whether you have the information to hand or whether it needs to be obtained from banks and other financial institutions, etc.

You may decide an advert in the London Gazette is needed to protect against unknown creditors and this process takes 12 weeks.

Once the probate application has been submitted to HM Courts & Tribunal Service it is typically 4 weeks before the grant of probate is issued but it can take 3 months.

The probate process

Initial phase

Use the Tell Us Once Service to notify government departments of the death
Find the will
Gather information about all assets and liabilities of the deceased
Locate other documents such as bank statements, property deeds and insurance policies
Obtain valuations of property, investments and personal belongings

Applying for probate

Calculation of any inheritance tax liability
Submission of inheritance tax forms to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), if there is an inheritance tax liability
Once approved by HMRC, the application is made to the Probate Registry and includes the original will and death certificate

Once probate is granted

The grant of probate gives the executors the legal power to distribute the assets of the estate to the beneficiaries of the will. (The grant of letters of administration gives the administrator the same power where there is no will)
Close bank accounts
Sell property and other assets not left to specific people
Keep records of all transactions and distributions
Preparation of estate accounts for approval by the executors
Distribution of assets to the beneficiaries
Registration of any trusts created by the will with HMRC
Preparation of estate tax returns if needed

Complaints

We are committed to providing you with a high quality service that is both efficient and effective. However, should there be any cause for complaint in relation to any aspect of our service, please contact in the first instance Jon Cleverdon who is director and Head of Legal Practice.

We will carefully consider any complaint received about our work in this engagement as soon as we receive it and we will do all we can to resolve it. We will acknowledge your letter within five business days of its receipt and endeavour to deal with the matters raised within eight weeks. As this service is defined as being a legal service under ICAEW guidelines, it is under the jurisdiction of the Legal Ombudsman. Accordingly, if we do not deal with your complaint in this time, or if you are not satisfied with our response, you are entitled to take up the matter with the Legal Ombudsman. This is an independent and free service for resolving complaints about legal services.

To make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman you must;

a) refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman no later than:
- one year from the act/omission that forms the basis of your complaint; or
- one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint; and
b) make the referral to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of the date of our final written response to you.

Contact details for the Legal Ombudsman
T: 0300 555 0333
E: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH

ICAEW Probate Compensation Scheme

In the unlikely event that we cannot meet our liabilities to you, you may be able to seek a grant from ICAEW’s Probate Compensation Scheme. Generally, applications for a grant must be made to ICAEW within 12 months from the date you became aware, or reasonably ought to have become aware, of any loss.

Further information about the scheme and the circumstances in which grants may be made is available on ICAEW's website: www.icaew.com/probate.