Probate
We understand that dealing with probate, inheritance taxes (IHT) and estate administration can often be a distressing and emotional time for family members who may struggle to cope with all the legal and administrative duties that will arise.
How we can help
Our probate services team are very knowledgeable and experienced in dealing with matters of a sensitive and confidential nature. They are on hand to give advice on the entire process of handling probate, IHT and estate administration, to ease the burden on the executors or administrators of an estate.
The team have experience of handling small simple estates to large complex estates, including intestacy cases.
What does it cost?
Our probate service fees start from as little as £1,800 including VAT, for a Probate application. Our services are quoted purely based on an estimate of the time expected to handle the estate affairs, not the value of the estate.
Free consultation and quote
We are happy to offer a free consultation and quote for our probate services. We aim, wherever possible, to provide you with a fixed fee, so you have the certainty of knowing how much the process will cost from the outset. Should you prefer, we can agree to provide services on a time-cost basis.
The current charge out rate for our qualified probate practitioners is £216 including VAT, per hour. For clients who choose to opt for the time cost basis, we will let you have an indication of the estimated costs at the outset, and will advise at regular intervals whether the estimate is on track or not and, if not, why not.
Cost scenarios
To help demonstrate the cost of our services we have added a page providing three cost scenarios on recent probate instructions. You can view our cost scenarios here.
Our probate services
We tailor our services to assist with as much or as little of the probate process that the executors or administrators require our assistance with.
The key stages are:
• Information gathering to determine the assets, liabilities and therefore, the value of the estate.
• Preparing and submitting the relevant IHT forms.
• Preparing and submitting the Application for the Grant of Probate.
• Realising the assets.
• Distributing the assets to beneficiaries.
In order to achieve the above key stages, we can offer the services listed below. Clients can choose which of these services they require, ranging from simply completing the probate application forms to the full service. As noted above, the service is tailored to the individual need of the executors and administrators.
• Register the death.
• Organise the funeral.
• Determine the assets and liabilities of the deceased.
• Prepare and submit tax returns to the date of death.
• Assist with the application for the appropriate grant.
• Ensure all relevant tax reliefs are applied for.
• Settle the IHT and obtain clearance from HMRC.
• Realise the assets, discharge all liabilities and expenses.
• Pay bequests.
• Distribute the assets of the estate to the beneficiaries.
• Prepare and submit estate tax returns for income realised during the estate administration.
• Prepare a set of estate accounts.
Time scales
No two estates are the same, which means the length of time it takes to administer an estate will vary depending upon its size and complexity. For instance, an estate comprising of money in a couple of bank accounts, some jewellery and say a car, should only take a couple of months, whereas one with complex trusts, foreign or business assets is likely to take longer, in some cases over 12 or even 18 months if a company is to be liquidated. However long it takes, we will let the executors and administrators have regular updates on the progress of the estate administration.
About us
MFW is licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to carry out the reserved legal activity of non-contentious probate in England and Wales. Our probate team includes chartered accountants and tax advisors who bring a wealth of expertise in dealing with all probate and tax matters.
View our probate glossary
Our firm’s reference number with the ICAEW is C005341462.
You can access more information on the ICAEW site at icaew.com/probate and view details of the probate regulations here.
Regulatory & policies
For details on our professional indemnity click here.
For details of our probate complaints procedure click here.
For details on our probate compensation arrangements click here.
For details of our policy for dealing with vulnerable people please click here.
For details of our diversity survey please click here.
Book a free initial consultation
Book a consultation to see how we can help you.
