Probate fees

We are able to tailor our service, so you can choose the precise level of involvement you need from us.

Dealing with an estate from start to end involves various stages which are detailed on a separate schedule.

How much does probate cost?  At Morris Owen we charge on a time spent basis. All work will be carried out by Leanne Wootton FCCA CTA and Rob Beale FCA CTA. Both have passed the probate and estate assessment enabling them to carry out the reserved legal activity of non-contentious probate.

Our probate costs for the work involved will be charged at the charge out rates applicable at the time the work is carried out, and will be explained in the initial meeting.

Probate fees for dealing with an estate will depend on the complexity of the estate and the level of involvement that is required from us.  Where possible an indication of the likely cost of probate will be provided in the initial meeting.

Typical disbursements would include the probate application fee, placing creditor’s notices in The London Gazette and local newspaper and indemnities for lost share certificates.  All of these costs will be dependent on the charges at the time of dealing with the estate.

Illustrative case studies

The case studies below show how we can tailor our services to meet each individual executor’s needs and the associated cost of the services provided. 

Services provided: Letters of administration application and inheritance tax forms

We were provided with a list of assets, the executors having already written to various third parties to confirm values and ownership of assets.

Date of death: October 2021

Letters of administration granted: February 2023

Estate value: £493,000 containing a property, 81 bank accounts, 5 shareholdings, and gold bullion.

Cost of dealing with the inheritance tax forms and obtaining letters of administration: £2,520 including VAT

Services provided: Completing IHT forms and dealing with tax for the period of administration. Included making a capital gains tax report and claims for IHT relief following the sale of investments at less than probate value. 

The executors in this case decided that they would deal with obtaining the grant of probate themselves. They had again provided us with a list of assets, having already written to various third parties to confirm values and ownership of assets. 

Date of death: August 2021

Probate granted: February 2022

Estate value: £2.3 million containing 2 properties, 4 bank accounts, 18 shareholdings and a Bond.

Cost of dealing with the inheritance tax forms and subsequent loss claims: £3,936 including VAT.

Dealing with tax for the period of administration, including the capital gains tax report: £2,916 including VAT.  

Other advice 

We have also dealt with estate’s where the executors have completed the IHT forms and probate application themselves and wanted us to review these to ensure they were correct and suggest any amendments that may be required.

On one such estate we dealt with; we were also required to complete tax returns for the period of administration as the estate did not meet the conditions to be dealt with informally

The estate was valued at £1.4 million and the period of administration covered two tax years.

Our fee for dealing with the above on the executor’s behalf was £2,502 including VAT.

Services provided: Dealing with tax for the period of administration 

We regularly get asked by solicitors to deal with the tax for the period of administration and also finalising the tax for the deceased for the period to the date of death.

One such example of this is an estate valued at £1.38 million containing a property, 14 bank accounts and one shareholding, in addition to some personal effects. The period of administration covered 2 tax years and met the conditions to be dealt with informally. The cost of dealing with the tax for the period of administration was £690 including VAT.

As you can see from the actual worked cases above, we are able to tailor our services to your specific requirements.