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01978 367 830
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01978 367 830
01244 812109
Dying is a very dull dreary affair and my advice to you is to have nothing to do with it
When a loved one dies it is never easy to just carry on. Even though you may not feel up to dealing with their affairs, it is something which must be done.
At Cyril Jones & Co., we have an experienced team to help lift that burden, providing you with support at a difficult time.
The area of practice referred to as Probate deals with the administration of a deceased’s estate; gathering details of all assets and liabilities and eventually distributing the remaining monies / property according to the wishes set out in the deceased’s Will or under the Intestacy Rules.
The following members of the practice currently deal with Probate matters: –
| Glen Murphy | Partner (£300.00) |
| Michael Cunnah | Partner (£300.00) |
| Brett Butt | Partner (£300.00) |
| Caroline McGuire | Solicitor (£300.00) |
The basic hourly rates of these practitioners are in brackets and are inclusive of VAT.
The basis on which we calculate costs on administration of estate is set out in the schedule of all our costs and charges that you can see on our website under the Transparency heading.
Generic term for the legal order issued by the probate court in the estate of a deceased person.
The document issued by the Probate Registry gives the named personal representative(s) in the deceased’s Will the authority to collect in the assets and deal with the estate in accordance with the Will.
The document issued by the Probate Registry gives personal representatives (usually the person(s) with the greatest entitlement under the rules of intestacy or a person acting on their behalf) the authority to collect in the assets and deal with the estate of a deceased person, where the deceased died without leaving a will. The personal representatives distribute the assets of the deceased under the rules of intestacy.
The document is issued by the Probate Registry to personal representatives who are not named in the will of the deceased.
This is a limited grant obtained to deal with a particular asset if the full estate cannot be ascertained but urgent action is required. For example, a property sale but the estate cannot be distributed.
This is a grant obtained when there has been a previous grant issued but the last surviving personal representative has died without completing the administration of the estate, leaving no chain of representation.
This is a grant issued where the estate is subject to legal proceedings or a claim where the persons who would normally obtain a grant have not been able to apply for a full grant beforehand. This is usually issued to an independent administrator to preserve the estate until the court proceedings are settled.
This is a limited grant the court can issue to deal with any part of the deceased’s estate (s113) or to someone who would not normally be entitled to take out a grant (s116).
This is when a grant has been issued with power reserved to another executor and that executor then wishes to act.
This is a person who is legally entitled to deal with the administration of a deceased persons estate. There is ordinarily more than one personal representative. The term encompasses both an executor and administrator.
This is a person who is appointed in a Will to administer the estate according to the terms of the Will. There is ordinarily more than one executor. However, only four executors will be granted probate and the remaining executors will have power reserved.
This is a person who is entitled to apply in accordance with the Intestacy Rules. This is usually the person(s) with the greatest entitlement under the rules of intestacy or a person acting on their behalf. There is ordinarily more than one person entitled to apply.
This is where a named executor or administrator decides that they don’t want to act. An executor or administrator can not simply renounce if they have intermeddled in the estate without making an application to the court.
Generally where the amount of money involved is relatively small and a Grant of Probate / Administration is not required.
A person who is entitled to receive a gift under the terms of the Will or under the rules of intestacy.
A legal notice put in the local paper and/or the London Gazette giving notice to potential unknown creditors that the estate will be distributed by a certain date if they do not come forward. This is a measure of protection by any claims against the personal representative.
These are monies we have to pay on behalf of the estate to third parties e.g. Probate court fees. It may be necessary to request the executor to provide these funds if there are insufficient monies in the estate. Funeral expenses and Inheritance Tax can be requested to be paid direct from the deceased’s bank or savings account(s). Disbursements may also include Land Registry fees; legal notices; and bankruptcy search fees.
Also referred to as form IHT205 and IHT400. These documents are required to be sent to the Probate Registry and/or HMRC setting out the value of all the deceased’s assets to determine whether or not under the tax rules any inheritance tax is payable. This can sometimes be a lengthy and complicated process and will usually involve the assistance of a professional person such as a Solicitor and/or Accountant if there are complicated tax matters to deal with.
There are two methods of applying for a grant. A digital and a paper application. The type of method is determined on a case-by-case basis.
An excepted estate is where the estate is below the inheritance tax threshold. The reporting requirements for excepted estate changed for deaths on or after January 1st, 2022. The change means that a person domiciled in the UK with an excepted estate, who dies on or after 1 January 2022, no longer need to complete the IHT205 or IHT217.
The majority of estates are generally reasonably straight forward and involve assets such as: – property; savings; pensions; insurance policies; stocks and shares; premium bonds; bank accounts; motor vehicles.
Administration of Estates can become complicated, more time consuming and therefore more costly when various factors are involved, such as:
This is very difficult to predict as it depends in third parties and factors beyond the Solicitor’s control.
Generally, for a straightforward, uncomplicated matter with no unforeseen problems you can expect an estate to be completed within 7-9 months; sometimes much sooner than that. More complicated estates or estates which involve those issues listed above can take up to 2-4 years to eventually finalise.
Digital applications – The probate registry is currently taking up to 14 days to confirm receipt of an application once it has been sent to them, and then up to 16 weeks to process the application once received.
Paper applications – The probate registry is currently taking twice as long to process paper applications
Time scales are different when an Inheritance Tax Account (IHT400) is requested. The probate practitioner will first send the Inheritance Tax account to H.M Revenue and Customs (HMRC). HMRC in response will send us a unique ‘probate code’ within 20 days of receiving the application. We will prepare and send you the Legal Statement (the digital or paper probate application) once the unique code has been received. HMRC will also send a receipted probate summary form (IHT421) directly to the probate registry if they are satisfied that the account is correct.
We are required to obtain evidence as to the identity and address of the people we are receiving instructions from. This will generally be the executors or the administrators. In some cases where we are sending monies to a named beneficiary, we will require proof of identity and address before sending more monies to reduce the risk of fraud.
We carry out a Anti-Money Laundering search for each personal representative at a fee of £5.00.
We charge a standard fee of £48.00 (inc. VAT)per file to carry out due diligence
We may conduct a search of the bankruptcy and insolvency register for each beneficiary for a fee of £2.40 (inc. VAT) per beneficiary.
As referred to above, our fees are based on an hourly rate depending on the Solicitor dealing with the matter.
Where our instructions are limited only to preparing an application for a grant where no inheritance tax is involved our fee inclusive of VAT is estimated as follows:
Where instructions are limited only to preparing an application for a grant where a full IHT report is required (IHT400 & schedules) subject to the fee earners discretion but not less than
Where instructions are to prepare an application for a grant and to act on behalf of the Personal Representative(s) in the administration of the estate: then our fees are as above and 1% of cash assets, ½ % of all other property valuation, and WIP (WIP is the actual time spent on the file. Our charges will be calculated based on the time we spend dealing with your matter. Time spent will include meetings with you and others; time spent traveling; considering, preparing, and working on papers; correspondence (letters/emails received/sent); attending Court and making and receiving telephone calls.)
Our time recording system divides an hour into ten units, we would therefore charge a 30-minute interview or work on a file at 5 units. Letters, emails, and phone calls that we make or receive are recorded at 1/10th of the hourly rate (e.g., £25.00 plus VAT)).
Estimates of costs on probate and administration of files cannot usually be given with any degree of accuracy until sufficient information is known about the assets and how much work might be involved in liquidating and or transferring asse
The materials appearing on this website do not constitute legal advice and are provided for general information purposes only. No warranty, whether express or implied is given in relation to such materials. We shall not be liable for any technical, editorial, typographical or other errors or omissions within the information provided on this website, nor shall we be responsible for the content of any web images or information linked to this website.