SOLICITOR (England & Wales)
WILLS | ESTATE PLANNING | PROBATE
STEP Affiliate
ASSW (Associate Member of the Society of Will Writers)
FEES / PRICING
We offer a free, no obligation, initial telephonic or virtual consultation to enable us to estabish your requirements and give you a quotation.
In most cases, we will agree a fixed fee in advance based on the scope of the instructions. Alternatively, we will provide full details of our charges including hourly rates and expected disbursements.
WILLS
Our fees for will preparation start at £249 for a straight-forward will. This includes taking instructions, giving advice on the content of the will, basic inheritance tax information, preparing a draft will for approval, taking further instructions as necessary, preparing the final will for signature, supervising signature and witnessing, either in person or after the event, and registering/lodging the will with a third-party storage facility.
If the will is not straight-forward, then we will quote a fixed fee in advance based on the scope of the instructions.
Mirror wills or mutual wills for couples will normally be charged at 1 1/2 times the fee for one will, i.e. the second will be charged at half price.
LASTING POWERS OF ATTORNEY ("LPA's")
There are two types of LPA, one being a Property & Financial Affairs LPA and the other being a Health & Welfare LPA. These are separate and distinct documents and are registered separately.
Our charges for preparing and registering LPA's are as follows:
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One LPA (i.e. Property & Financial Affairs OR Health & Welfare): £199 plus £82 registration fee, total £281.
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Two LPA's for the same person (i.e. Property & Financial Affairs AND Health & Welfare): £299 plus £164 registration fee, total £463.
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Reciprocal LPA's for couples will normally be charged at 1 1/2 times the fee for one set, i.e. the second set will be charged at half price.
TRUST REGISTRATION
Our fee for registering a trust with HMRC on behalf of the trustees is £199.
PROBATE
For probate work, our charges are as follows:
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For obtaining the grant of probate, we charge our hourly rate of £120 per hour plus disbursements, the main disbursement being the probate fee (currently £273).
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For winding up an estate, including obtaining probate, we charge our hourly rate of £120 per hour, subject to a minimum fee equal to 0.75% of the value of fixed property in the estate plus 1.5% of the value of the other assets in the estate, plus disbursements.
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In either case, we are prepared to agree a fixed fee in advance.
GENERAL
Where no fixed fee is agreed, our charges are based on time spent at an hourly rate of £120 per hour.
DISBURSEMENTS
As well as our fees, we may charge for disbursements and other expenses if these apply. Examples of disbursements include OPG registration fees, Probate Registry fees, counsels’ and experts’ fees, travel expenses and search fees. If you agree that we can instruct other people (for example, foreign lawyers, experts, barristers, accountants or other professionals) to help provide the service to you, we do this as your agent and you are directly responsible for paying their fees and expenses. You will reimburse us for any fees and expenses that we pay on your behalf.
PAYMENT
Our fees are normally payable on presentation of our invoice after completion of the work. However, we may request a deposit in advance to cover our expected fees for non-probate work.
VAT
At present we are not registered as a VAT operator. Should we be required to register then VAT will be payable in addition to our fees.