Buying and Selling your property:- 

Your work will be undertaken entirely by qualified solicitors being :- Mr Nigel John Fletcher who qualified as a solicitor in 1985 and Mrs Mary Evelyn Lewis Simmons who qualified as a solicitor in 1997.  Between them they have 64 years of experience in Conveyancing and Probate work.  The firm is an accredited member of the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme.

Probate - 

Your work will be undertaken entirely by qualified solicitors being :- Mr Nigel John Fletcher who qualified as a solicitor in 1985 and Mrs Mary Evelyn Lewis Simmons who qualified as a solicitor in 1997.  Between them they have 64 years of experience in Conveyancing and Probate work.

Our fees depend upon the amount of work you need us to carry out. We calculate them on an hourly basis .Our hourly rate is £200 plus VAT at 20%.

In addition to our fees, VAT and disbursements  in some cases  we may charge a value element provided that it is fair, reasonable & complies with the principles laid down by the Law Society. The amount of the value element is 0.5% of the value of realty (land & property) and 1.0% of the value of personalty (cash, bank accounts ,investments, insurance policies  etc ). We do NOT ALWAYS charge the value element as all the estates we deal with are different. We will take into account the value of the estate, its complexity whether Inheritance Tax is payable and whether there is agricultural property, or business assets.  We will always agree from the outset with you whether or not a value element will be charged and confirm this in writing before we undertake any work.

1.  If you want us to obtain a Grant of Representation (be it either a Grant of Probate if there is a Will or Letters of Administration if there is no Will); and you do not need us to obtain probate valuations, or write to third parties, or close accounts and investments and the Estate is not more than £325,000, our fees on average will be between £500 and £850 plus vat at 20%.

2.  If, in addition you want us to fully administer the estate our service will include arranging and obtaining all necessary probate valuations, ascertaining the assets & liabilities of the estate, communicating with beneficiaries and all third parties including HM Revenue & Customs and The Department of Work and Pensions as necessary, gathering in the assets, discharging liabilities, distributing the estate and preparing detailed estate accounts. Our fees for this start at £1,500 plus vat at 20% for an estate not exceeding £100,000.  For estates between £100,000 and £325,000 depending on the amount of work we undertake our fees on average range between £3,000-£4000 plus VAT at 20%.

3. Our fees set out at 1 and 2 above and at 5 below do not include the “disbursements” that have to be paid to third parties. These are charged out to you at the same price they are charged to us.  These disbursements include the Probate Registry application fee of £273 plus £1.50 for each copy of the Grant no VAT, Advertisements in The London Gazette & a local newspaper (to protect against claims following distribution of the estate) which cost between  £150-£250 exclusive of VAT at 20% and bankruptcy searches in respect of each beneficiary which cost £2.00 per person plus VAT at 20%.  With your prior agreement as to their professional fee you may also need to instruct through us a chartered surveyor to value a house or land.

4. Additional work involved in selling or transferring a house, or land, or shares, or dealing with non UK assets, or advising on Deeds of Variation, or trusts, or claims against the estate are charged separately based on the nature and extent of the work involved. As every estate is different we will be able to provide a specific quote when we know what is needed.

5. Larger, or more complex estates, or those that are liable to pay Inheritance Tax involve more work to deal with assets, to calculate the Inheritance Tax & to claim appropriate Inheritance Tax Reliefs and Exemptions. We will also assist with arrangements to pay any Inheritance Tax payable. Consequently our fees for these estates range on average  between £4,000 and £8,000 plus VAT at 20% plus the disbursements set out at 3 above and any Inheritance Tax payable. Whilst we prepare as part of our administration service a precise calculation of any Inheritance Tax payable If you are worried about inheritance Tax you can use the free gov.uk online Inheritance Tax checker, or seek specific Inheritance Tax advice for a pre agreed fee from us. 

6.  As every estate is different you can telephone, email, or arrange an initial free meeting with one our experienced solicitors who can then best assess what is needed to be able to give you a specific and accurate estimate of our fees for you to approve before we start to carry out any work on your behalf.

How long will the administration of the Estate take?

1.  On average it takes between 6 months and 18 months to administer an Estate.

2. In order to be able to submit an application for a Grant to the Probate Registry, the value of the assets and liabilities need to be obtained by you or us depending upon whether you chose option 1 or 2 above.

3. The Probate Registry is currently taking up to 16 weeks to process an application. The Grant is needed to close bank accounts, close investments, sell or transfer a house or land.  

4.  Once the Grant is obtained, it may take between 2-3 months to close the accounts and cash the investments.