Probate Charges

Following a death (and the subsequent Estate Administration) we completely understand that legal costs are an expense you would rather not have. We also appreciate that the costs are paid for with the deceased's money, plus you are legally obliged to obtain the most cost effective service as possible (beneficiaries are owed a legal duty of care to maximise the Estate).

... OR CLICK A FIXED-FEE BANNER BELOW

SO, HOW MUCH DOES A GOOD ESTATE ADMINISTRATION SERVICE COST?

The first question you should really ask is, "How much does a BAD Estate Administration Service cost"?

After over 21 years we have seen so many bad Estate Administrations, with the problems and errors only surfacing years after the work was completed. Some of these errors need to be declared to HM Revenue & Customs resulting in serious penalties and taxes (and interest).

It might only be a decimal point in the wrong place on a share value (for example) but the consequences can be financially catastrophic. The worse example we have seen is by a Probate firm working on behalf of a top high street Funeral Director. This firm declared the wrong type of joint property ownership to HMRC and the Probate Court, resulting in £thousands of extra legal costs and interest, which all had to be reclaimed back from the Executors and Beneficiaries several years later.

SO WHAT IS A GOOD ESTATE ADMINISTRATION SERVICE?

- FAST but not rushed (where errors can occur).

- CAREFUL by using the latest technology (to check and double check
what the humans are doing).

- EXPERIENCED in Estate Administrations of all sizes, including high value (high risk of errors) Administrations.

- LOW FEES but not so low that corners need cutting to make the work pay.

- FIXED FEES so everyone involved knows the cost from the beginning, with
no shocks at the end due to unlimited hourly charges being made.

- EXPERIENCED LAWYERS that are up to date on the latest probate law and procedures and someone
that manages a clients file personally, so s/he knows the the case and the people involved.

- JARGON FREE so you understand what is going on at every stage, even
if it gets very technical, plain English in other words.

As this is our web site, it may not be a surprise that we are describing our own Estate Administration Service under the heading of a 'Good Estate Administration Service' above. However, you don't have to take our word for it as you can view many comments made by our clients under the heading of "What Clients Say", you can even speak to a former client if you wish, many are happy to do this.

We are often asked how we can offer such a comprehensive, specialist service for a low fixed-fee* (up to 70% less than an High Street Solicitor or bank). It is simply because we have been online for 21 years gradually growing by recommendation (without the costs of advertising) and we keep all our staffing and office overheads to a minimum. By way of an example, the average firm of solicitors has a ratio of 2 to 3 support staff (secretaries, assistants, trainees, receptionist) to each Lawyer, all being paid from the Lawyer's hourly rate and therefore being paid for by YOU. With Probate-Helper, you will normally be dealing with your qualified Lawyer directly and therefore you only pay for his/her time.

We can normally fix the fee in advance, because we have completed so many Estate Administrations we can calculate how much work will be necessary in advance. Any law firm that offers an unlimited 'estimate' clearly is not confident of how much work will be required and from our experience the majority of 'estimates' are exceeded.

Over 98% of complete Estate Administrations we undertake are undertaken under a pre-agreed, fully-inclusive fixed-fee. Your fixed-fee will be agreed prior to working on your behalf and based on the information available at that time. In a small amount of cases unexpected complications/complexities can arise (though rare) and you will be advised if anything should fall outside of a 'normal Estate Administration' and notified of any additional charges/expenses before work continues. You will certainly never have a shock at the end of your case when the final bill is presented (very common). Likewise, sometimes an Administration is more straightforward than originally thought and we will actually charge less than the agreed fixed-fee. We are all about fairness, not extracting as much money as possible from each case, unfortunately there are sufficient law firm's operating that policy.before work begins.

On average over 40% of the Estate Administrations we undertake exceed £1.5 Million, with the largest being over £30 Million. Therefore you can be confident that our Lawyers are experienced in the complexities that can arise with larger Estates. The authorities like HM Revenue & Customs always take an interest in large Estates and we are experienced in submitting accounts that get approved by HMRC first time and can deal with any enquiries raised. We also do absolutely everything legally possible to make sure that the Estate pays the minimum amount of Inheritance Tax possible.