Costs and Service Information

 Uncontested Probate (with all assets in the UK)

 

Prices

Please note that there will be two elements to the costs information set out below:

  1. Fees charged by Mir Solicitors. These are charged on the basis of hourly rates; and
  2. Fees payable to third parties.

Please ensure that you consider both parts of the costs information. 

Fees charged by Mir Solicitors

It is very difficult to provide set prices for probate work as there can be so many variables which affect our fees depending on the individual estate.

We have set out an example of our fees for a specific type of estate below to give you a starting point. We will of course be able to provide you with a more accurate costs estimate if we have specific details about the estate.

Example fee estimate

This is an example estimate for an estate where:

  • There is a valid will.
  • There is no more than one property.
  • There are no more than 2 bank or building society accounts.
  • There are no other tangible assets.
  • There are no more than 3
  • There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets.
  • There is no inheritance tax payable and the executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC.
  • There are no claims made against the estate.
Description of fee Fee VAT (20%) Total
Legal fee * £1,500.00 – £3,000.00 £300.00 – £600.00 £1,800.00 – £3,600.00

 

* Basis of charging = hourly rate of £150.00 therefore estimate is based on 10 – 20 hours work.

 

Fees payable to third parties (‘Disbursements’)

 

Description of Disbursement Fee VAT Total
Probate application fee £155.00 N/A £155.00
Additional copies of the grant £1.00 each

(usually 1 per asset)

N/A £1.00 each

(usually 1 per asset)

Swearing of the oath £6.00 (per executor)

Or £5.00 (per administrator – if there is no Will)

N/A £6.00 (per executor)

Or £5.00 (per administrator – if there is no Will)

Bankruptcy search £2.00 (per beneficiary – additional fees will apply if any beneficiary is resident abroad.) N/A £2.00 (per beneficiary – additional fees will apply if any beneficiary is resident abroad.)
Advertisement in the London Gazette

(This protects against unexpected claims and unknown creditors.)

£83.00 N/A £83.00
Advertisement in a local newspaper

(This also helps to protect against unexpected claims.)

£75.00 – £150.00 N/A £75.00 – £150.00

 

Work included and key stages

Our fees include obtaining the grant of probate, collecting assets and distributing them. The precise work and stages involved in a probate matter vary according to the circumstances. However, we have set out the key stages involved in a typical probate matter:

  • Take your instructions and give you initial advice.
  • Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries.
  • Establish the extent of the estate by identifying the various assets and liabilities.
  • Identify the type of probate application required.
  • The application for Grant of Probate is prepared and then sworn by the executor and submitted to the appropriate Probate Registry together with the Will, if there is one.
  • Once the Grant is received, it is submitted to the various organisations with whom assets are held in order to start the process of transferring the assets into the beneficiaries’ names.
  • All estate liabilities have to be paid before the estate can be distributed among the beneficiaries;
  • Confirmation is required that tax is paid up to date and there are no outstanding HMRC claims;
  • Estate accounts should be prepared thereafter, and the estate distributed in accordance with the terms of the Will.

Services excluded

Our service for the price quoted will not include any of the following:

  • Any contested probate matters or advice on the same.
  • Advice on tax or other accounting matters.
  • Advice on assets held outside of the UK.
  • Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate – our property team would be happy to handle this for you but additional fees will apply.

 Approximate/ average timescales

 On average, estates that fall within this quote range are dealt with within 6 – 9 months.

Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 12 – 18 weeks.

Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 2 – 4 weeks.

Once this has been done (and the sale of any property has been completed), we can distribute the assets.

Factors that could increase costs

In some circumstances we may increase our fees to account for additional time, work or skill required to meet your instructions. Examples include:

  • If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there is likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with.

Qualifications and experience of our team   

Our probate team includes:

Name Position Experience
Maroof Razak Director and Solicitor Maroof has 18 years’ experience dealing with probate matters.

He qualified as a solicitor in 2003 and is a Director and owner of Mir Solicitors.

Mehwish Ahmed Conveyancer and Probate Specialist Mehwish has 5 years’ experience dealing with probate matters.
Martin Lamb Property lawyer Martin has over 20 years experience of property and probate matters

Regardless of who works on your matter, they will be supervised by Maroof Razak, Solicitor and Director at the firm.