Wills, Probate & Tax Planning
Wills, Probate
& Tax Planning
Probate
Personal representatives have the responsibility of administering the estate properly. This means establishing the extent of the estate, paying any debts and taxes and distributing the balance. The law requires this to be done with due diligence, and it is our job to help you do this. When dealing with an estate administration from start to finish, we manage all the following steps for you:
1. Obtaining valuations of the estate assets and liabilities and valuing the gross and net estate for probate and taxation purposes.
2. Preparation of the application for a Grant of Probate, which is the official legal document giving the personal representatives authority to deal with the estate.
3. Placing statutory advertisements (under Section 27 Trustee Act 1925) for any claims to the estate. This is to protect you, in your capacity as a personal representative, against personal liability to unknown claimants, if you instruct us to do so.
4. Sending copies of the Grant to banks, building societies and others holding money and property and realising/transferring the assets in accordance with instructions.
5. Collecting in and paying the estate money into our client account where it will be subject to the protection of the Law Society’s Rules regarding Solicitors firms’ handling of client money. This also helps us to start to prepare the accounts, which will show the assets of the estate and the payment of liabilities.
6. Finalising income tax affairs for the tax year in which the deceased died, if you instruct us to do so.
7. Finalising the income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax position of the estate, negotiating with the District Valuer as to the value of the house and obtaining confirmation from the Inland Revenue that no tax is due.
8. The final stage of the work involves completing the estate accounts for approval, paying out the remaining entitlements to the beneficiaries and obtaining formal receipts and discharges.
It is difficult to predict how long it will take to reach each stage, because each estate is unique. Generally, we aim to obtain a Grant of Probate within six months of the date a person passes away although it may be sooner. Our charges to provide the full estate administration service depend on the size of the estate, as this reflects the level of financial responsibility falling on our firm, and the time taken.
In terms of the size of the estate, the following percentages are applicable:
0.5% on the value of the deceased’s residence; and 1% on the rest of the estate. (These percentages increase slightly where we are appointed in the Will as executors, to 0.75% and 1.5% respectively.) In terms of the time taken, this is the one of the most variable factors of all but on average, we estimate approximately 10 to 15 hours of work are required for an average estate.
Charge out rates are as follows:
| Grade | A | B | C | D |
| Fee Earner | Solicitors, Associates and Chartered Legal Executives with over 8 years’ experience | Solicitors, Associates and Chartered Legal Executives with over 4 years’ experience | Other solicitors or legal executives and fee earners of equivalent experience | Trainee solicitors, paralegals and other fee earners |
| Hourly Rate | £300 | £245 | £195 | £180 |
VAT is chargeable on these rates.
Our fees in total, including both value and time elements, tend to amount to approximately 1.25% to 1.75% of the gross value of the estate. In addition, the following disbursements are typically required. These are payments made by us on your behalf to other organisations, and which are added to your bill. Probate Fee: £300 (plus £1.50 per additional copy of the Grant required). Will Search fee (if required) £140.00 (including VAT). Statutory Notices fee (if required) £200.00 approx. If we are asked to carry out work relating to the income tax affairs of a deceased person while they were alive, work relating to repaying overpaid benefits or in respect of challenges to the Will, this extra work will be quoted for separately.
Will Writing
Our will writing fees and service
When preparing a new Will for you, we will meet with you to discuss your requirements, your assets and your personal circumstances. We will then prepare a bespoke document to reflect your wishes, including who you would like to inherit your estate, who you entrust with administering your estate (please see above for the duties of personal representatives) and matters such as custody of minor children, if relevant. We then provide you with the draft Will. Once we have answered any questions and you are happy with the Will, we provide you with a formal copy for signature.
We are happy to store the original, signed, Will in our strongrooms for as long as necessary, at no extra charge, and provide you with a copy for your own records. Our firm’s fees for an individual Will start at £350 +VAT and a Will Search fee (if required) is £140 (inclusive of VAT). Most Wills can be prepared at this simple, fixed fee. For clients with more complex estates, for example where there are questions of domicile or trusts, then we may need to charge at the hourly rates listed above although will always try to provide you with a fixed fee quote. This work is usually undertaken by a partner, associate, solicitor or Legal Executive and approximately five hours’ work would be involved.
Lasting Powers of Attorney
Our Lasting Powers of Attorney fees and service
When preparing a Lasting Power of Attorney (“LPA”) for you, we meet with you to explain the options available. We then draft all necessary documentation and talk through the documents with you. Once you are happy with the documents, you can sign these at our offices, and we will provide the required certificate of capacity at no extra charge. We will then deal with the registration of the powers of attorney with the office of the Public Guardian and provide certified copies of these to you. As with Wills, we are happy to store the original documents in our strongrooms for as long as this may be required, again at no additional charge. There are two kinds of Lasting Power of Attorney. One deals with Finances, property and investments and the other deals with health, welfare and care. Hallett & Co charge £400 +VAT per lasting power of attorney per person for the comprehensive service described above, however if you require both LPAs we may be able to offer a discount. A fee of £82 is payable to the Office of the Public Guardian for each application to register a Lasting Power of Attorney.
Our Deputyship application fees and service
If a person loses mental capacity and there is no Lasting Power of Attorney in place, then it can be very difficult for others, even close relatives or friends, to make legal decisions for that person. In this case, Hallett & Co can assist with an application to the Court of Protection to appoint another person to make decisions for them. Where another person has been appointed by the Court in this way, they are known as a “Deputy”.
We charge a fixed fee of £1,500 for this service. In addition, the Court will charge an application fee of £371. These fees are normally recoverable from the person about whom the Order is made. If the court decides a hearing is necessary, this will cost £494. Deputyship applications involve a medical opinion on a person’s mental capacity. Sometimes a social worker or medical practitioner can provide these for free, but it may be necessary to pay privately for a doctor to provide this, and this can cost approximately £200. Once appointed, a Deputy must pay an appointment of Deputy fee and purchase an annual insurance bond. The price of the bond will vary according to how much property, investments and money the person about whom the order is made has. The appointment of Deputy fee is £100 (no VAT).
Thereafter, Deputies must pay an annual “supervision fee” which ranges from £35 to £320 (no VAT), depending on what level of supervision the Deputyship needs. Again, these fees are normally recoverable from the person about whom the order is made. We can assist the Deputy with the preparation of annual Deputyship Reports for £300 (plus VAT) and annual tax returns from £400 (plus VAT) for the person who has lost capacity.
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