Solicitors fee for Inheritance tax

lel123

Not sure if I am in the right area of this forum, but wanted to ask a general question.
Does anyone have experience of Inheritance Tax.
I am trying to find a solicitor to deal with probate and IHT for me.
Does 1% of total estate value as solicitors fee sound fair?
We are prob talking about a total fee of £4,000
I have done all initial letters etc, but solicitor is going to do these again.#Any advise would be gratefully received.
Thanks

opinions4u

It sounds cheap for a solicitor. I've seen some charge up to 5% (although that is outrageous!).

Ring a couple more local firms up for a quote just to check reasonability.

I've been an executor too many times recently - I'd gladly pay £4000 of the estate's money not to do it again!

CLAPTON

if 1% is 4000 then presumably the estate is worth about 400,000
was the deceased married and does the estate 'inherit' the spouses IHT allowance i.e. is the IHT allowance 325,000 or 650,000?

Pennywise

opinions4u wrote: »

I've been an executor too many times recently - I'd gladly pay £4000 of the estate's money not to do it again!

I have to agree. I've done this twice recently, one for mother in law and once for father, and each time, even though the estates were "simple", the sheer time and effort it took to sort out was ridiculous. HMRC and the probate office are the most inefficient organisations you could ever hope never to have dealings with. I'd happily pay £4,000 for someone else to do it.

lel123

CLAPTON wrote: »

if 1% is 4000 then presumably the estate is worth about 400,000
was the deceased married and does the estate 'inherit' the spouses IHT allowance i.e. is the IHT allowance 325,000 or 650,000?

Hi CLAPTON
No she was never married, so the allowance is 325,000, and Im guessing we pay the 40% IHT on the difference. Just wasn't sure about the solictors fee, I have rung around but no one will give me a quote without going in and I was just trying to save time. This is the solicitor that dealt with the will.
Thanks
Lel123

milla

Hi lel123

My experience was totally the opposite . I found the probate and HMRC very helpful and very patient .

The probate was done within 4 months (and it wasn't simple !!) and I must have saved a fair bit on solicitor's fees .

John_Pierpoint

I've done it three times before, including an estate in the 1990's that had to pay marginal InHeritance Tax (IHT).

I'm semi retired so I had the time to tackle the task for a fourth time, in what I supposed (incorrectly) to be a nil rate band IHT estate (Beware of a Victorian cottage inside the M25).

You are welcome to trace my two years of postings on here by doing an advanced search on my name or by putting a search such as

“Mr Dog” site: forums.moneysavingexpert.com

into Google.


[The saga starts with a will, incorrectly written by a solicitor, thus creating a partially intestacy - in my explanation of the structure of this will, I invented a family of animals with "Mr Dog" as the deceased - to be more accurate, it started three months earlier when "Mr Dog" went into hospital, paralysed with what turned out to be a brain tumour and nobody had any power of attorney - but we won't go there]


It has been a classic example of the 80/20 rule - most of the work has been a simple clerical chore BUT some organisations have been amazingly incompetent.

I don't know how any solicitor can give a quotation for the time and cost of doing the work, as against giving a guestimate that will not be realised in practice; unless the estimate is really over the top right from the start.

I have spent time soul searching and asking myself "Is it me?", but I've had to deal with 4 banks. Two were brilliant. Abbey was a case of "No I'm not coming back tomorrow, I have made an appointment and I'm staying here until you get this sorted out". Then there was one account at Barclays - the level of incompetence means that words fail me. It took months.

That was good training for HMRC - I have no real argument with the Capital Taxes Office, but unlike my experience in the 1990's, there seems to be a churning of staff and the ability to switch responsibilities between offices geographically - so the expertise in Nottingham has been diluted.

However the Income Tax Affairs of the late "Mr Dog" were already in a mess. He had untaxed income and so had been put on self assessment. This had already degenerated into a mixture of coding out his liability with a "K" code AND sending him demands for payments on account.
Every step of the way I have been fed misinformation, incorrect procedures, unanswered letters, letters sent to incorrect addresses; while the staff have played a game of "pass the file" between half a dozen offices.

[ I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the (retired) tax collectors and accountants who have advised and sympathised on this forum, as I have grappled with the black hole that is HMRC's Income Tax administration]

So in conclusion, all I can say is that perhaps your estate is in apple pie order and your chosen solicitor will lift the burden from your shoulders and complete the administration in a matter of months.

However you will still have to do most of the running about, especially if you have property and real estate to liquidate.

The more parties involved in a transaction the more scope there is for complexity and "misunderstandings".

Between two people there are two possibilities for agreement and two disagreements.
NN
YY
YN
NY
Now how many possibilities are there, when there are three parties to every decision:
YYY
NNN
???

Good luck,

John

PS How many beneficiaries do you have?

sarah65_2

Hi there,
I am wondering if anyone would be able to help me with this question;
My grandmother recently passed away and transferred her estate to my grandfather (which was more than £325,000) therefore I know that this allows his limit to go to £650,000...However when the time comes unfortunately for him then the money shall all pass to my mother, which is approx £500,000. Does this mean that my mother will have to pay IHT then on the 500k or does she avoid it because she will be in the 650k limit, I am so confused as to wether my mothers limit would drop back down to 325k or would remain at 650k???
Please Help!!!
Thank you in advance

jennifernil

I have answered on the other thread you posted on

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1538

sarah65_2

Thank you thank you thank you! I really appreciate your help!