Probate Services

JBeaC

Our solicitor offers a 1) basic (grant of probate only) and a 2) full probate service with a significant price difference. 1) I understand means to inform key organisations which we’ve done and value the estate which we are quite clear on. Then I understand to finalise the estate. Is 1) a realistic option to be able to do ourselves? Advice would be much appreciated. 

Flugelhorn

I would presume that the basic would be to apply for the grant of probate and full would be to manage the estate. If it is a simple estate then many of us have done the whole thing ourselves 

Keep_pedalling

Unless there is anything complicated about the estate or there is a good chance someone is likely to turn it into a contentious probate there should be no reason why the executors can’t do the whole thing themselves. You will certainly be able to do it faster as well as a lot cheaper.

naedanger

If the estate is easy - no complicated assets, no fights between beneficiaries then the steps are easy.

Since you have already gathered in the information, I suggest you now look at the probate forms to see what you need to complete next. You may realise they are not difficult and a solicitor is not needed.

If you want a view on the solicitor's charges you could quote them here. 

Also is there any property in the estate? 
Is the estate likely to be below the threshold for inheritance tax?

JBeaC

Thanks everyone. The solicitor will apply for Grant of Probate. I’m happy to pay for them to do that. The work we would need to do is valuing and reporting the assets to HMRC and distributing  assets to beneficiaries. The estate includes part of a property so we are calculating approx half of its value which is below the tax threshold. It’s isn’t a complicated estate and has no debts. We want to keep a solicitor on board because the other part of the property is another families estate if that makes sense, we will need to negotiate sale etc and they haven’t been easy to deal with so far 

naedanger

JBeaC said:

Thanks everyone. The solicitor will apply for Grant of Probate. I’m happy to pay for them to do that. The work we would need to do is valuing and reporting the assets to HMRC and distributing  assets to beneficiaries. The estate includes part of a property so we are calculating approx half of its value which is below the tax threshold. It’s isn’t a complicated estate and has no debts. We want to keep a solicitor on board because the other part of the property is another families estate if that makes sense, we will need to negotiate sale etc and they haven’t been easy to deal with so far 

Sounds like a good plan. 

I did more or less the same. I used a solicitor to apply for confirmation, which is the Scottish equivalent of probate (but is a less user friendly process), and will use one again to put the property into the name of one of the beneficiaries. 

JBeaC

naedanger said:

If the estate is easy - no complicated assets, no fights between beneficiaries then the steps are easy.

Since you have already gathered in the information, I suggest you now look at the probate forms to see what you need to complete next. You may realise they are not difficult and a solicitor is not needed.

If you want a view on the solicitor's charges you could quote them here. 

Also is there any property in the estate? 
Is the estate likely to be below the threshold for inheritance tax?

Approx £1000.00 for the basic service. Between £3500-4500 for the full service. It seems a big difference and a lot to pay for the other business which we seem to have started ourselves already? 

JBeaC

Flugelhorn said:

I would presume that the basic would be to apply for the grant of probate and full would be to manage the estate. If it is a simple estate then many of us have done the whole thing ourselves 

It’s the other way around. The solicitor would just apply for the Grant of Probate.

naedanger

JBeaC said:

naedanger said:

If the estate is easy - no complicated assets, no fights between beneficiaries then the steps are easy.

Since you have already gathered in the information, I suggest you now look at the probate forms to see what you need to complete next. You may realise they are not difficult and a solicitor is not needed.

If you want a view on the solicitor's charges you could quote them here. 

Also is there any property in the estate? 
Is the estate likely to be below the threshold for inheritance tax?

Approx £1000.00 for the basic service. Between £3500-4500 for the full service. It seems a big difference and a lot to pay for the other business which we seem to have started ourselves already? 

I paid £750 plus VAT for a solicitor to apply for Confirmation - equivalent to probate. (I think the Scottish system is harder for a layman but probably for a solicitor involves a similar amount of work to applying for probate.)

So I think £1,000 with or without VAT is probably OK - not cheap, not dear. My guess is the solicitor has probably estimated 2 - 4 hours work, mostly in to-ing and fro-ing and including client contact, billing etc.

Administering the full estate is time consuming, which is why the solicitor has to charge a lot, but not difficult. (Assuming the estate is fairly typical for one not liable to IHT.) I found the process quite time consuming, but looking back on it now it seems hard to see what the time was spent on.

JBeaC

naedanger said:

JBeaC said:

naedanger said:

If the estate is easy - no complicated assets, no fights between beneficiaries then the steps are easy.

Since you have already gathered in the information, I suggest you now look at the probate forms to see what you need to complete next. You may realise they are not difficult and a solicitor is not needed.

If you want a view on the solicitor's charges you could quote them here. 

Also is there any property in the estate? 
Is the estate likely to be below the threshold for inheritance tax?

Approx £1000.00 for the basic service. Between £3500-4500 for the full service. It seems a big difference and a lot to pay for the other business which we seem to have started ourselves already? 

I paid £750 plus VAT for a solicitor to apply for Confirmation - equivalent to probate. (I think the Scottish system is harder for a layman but probably for a solicitor involves a similar amount of work to applying for probate.)

So I think £1,000 with or without VAT is probably OK - not cheap, not dear. My guess is the solicitor has probably estimated 2 - 4 hours work, mostly in to-ing and fro-ing and including client contact, billing etc.

Administering the full estate is time consuming, which is why the solicitor has to charge a lot, but not difficult. (Assuming the estate is fairly typical for one not liable to IHT.) I found the process quite time consuming, but looking back on it now it seems hard to see what the time was spent on.

Thanks. I’m trying to work out what the time is spent on and whether we have that time! We have all the details of bank accounts, savings, pensions, assets, property valuation already. Am I being naive in thinking I can do this? I’m not an accountant or anything lol 

thegreenone

I did Option 1.  Things probably could've been faster if I'd done it all myself (Covid and WFH solicitors didn't help) but also I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to official forms particularly with HMRC/where it's legal and could come back to bite you on the rear end.  Gathering all the info and closing banks accounts was easy so there's no reason to pay for that (as you've done).  I sent everything to the solicitors end January and Probate was granted on 29 April.  Flat on the market today.