Estate Administration

We provide a range of Private Client Services including: obtaining Grants of Probate and administration of estates on death; advice, preparation and registration of Lasting Powers of Attorney; and applications to the Court of Protection.

Our team specialises in advising elderly clients and offers home visits to those who are unable to come to our offices.

Browns Solicitors wills and estate administration - Hazel and client

Probate & Administration of Estates

If someone has died with an estate worth more than £5,000 it is usually the case that a Grant of Probate (if there is a Will) or Letters of Administration (if there is no Will) need to be obtained by the Executor (if there is a Will) or a beneficiary of the estate (called an Administrator if there is no Will) to collect in the estate and distribute it.

We can assist you in gaining the required document from the Probate Registry to enable you to administer the estate, and in completing all the relevant Inheritance Tax Forms. We charge a fixed fee for this type of work.

We can also administer the estate from start to finish on your behalf. We charge an hourly rate for this type of work. Our solicitors and their qualifications can be found on our team page - Browns Solicitors/Our Team

Stages of Estate Administration 

(please note these are only approximate timescales and will vary on a case by case basis)

Obtaining information from institutions about the value of the Estate (2-8 weeks)

Completing the probate application (2-5 days)

Submitting and receiving the grant (6-12 weeks)

Collecting in and selling assets, paying liabilities (3-8 weeks)

Preparing Estate Accounts (2-5 days)

Obtaining approval of the Executors (2-5 days)

Distributing the estate (1-2 weeks)

Probate & Administration of Estates Fees

All of our Probate files are run by Jane Lodeto and Hazel Oluwadare. All of Hazel’s work is overseen by Jane. To obtain Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration our fees are:

Estate not liable to Inheritance Tax: £1,250 + VAT

Estate liable to Inheritance Tax: £2,000 + VAT

There will also be a fee due to the Probate Registry which is currently £526 plus £2 for each copy of the Grant.

If you wish to instruct us to Administer the Estate on your behalf or if we are named in a client’s Will as Executors, our fees are charged on a time recorded basis at our hourly rate.  Currently, our basic hourly rate for our Director is £330 plus VAT, £275 plus VAT for our Solicitors, £230 plus VAT for our trainee solicitor and £225 plus VAT for our paralegal. An estimate of the likely overall fees will be given once the details of the estate are known.

It is not appropriate to give an accurate time scale for obtaining Probate as we deal with estate administrations on a case by case basis.  However, as an indication, from the date we have details of the value of an estate we would usually have prepared the relevant application and forms within 3 working days.  Once you have signed them the Probate Registry generally take around 3 weeks to make the Grant.

We also offer home visits for at no extra charge if within 20 miles of either of our offices.

Deed of Variation

Within two years of a death, the beneficiaries under a Will or an intestacy (i.e. where someone has died without making a Will) can choose to have a Deed of Variation prepared varying the terms of the Will or the intestacy.

This is sometimes helpful for Inheritance Tax planning of the beneficiaries (i.e. to bypass a beneficiary in favour, for example, of a child of that beneficiary) or where there has been some other family agreement.

Please feel free to book a free half hour appointment to discuss how a Deed of Variation may be able to assist you.

Contact us for more information
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The staff were always available to answer any problems.  On numerous occasions the advice and information provided helped with regard to the settlement of the sale of the property.  I would only recommend a company if I myself was satisfied with the service.  The case went through very smoothly and in a very timely manner.

All the staff at Browns Solicitors gave prompt and expert advice during this difficult time.  The level of service from all the staff has been excellent throughout.  I would definitely recommend their services.

Thank you also to all at Browns Solicitors for your help and professionalism during a difficult process.  We both appreciate it and are thankful completion has now taken place.

Thank you for all your help professionalism  and attention during this difficult process. As you can imagine I am relieved it is in conclusion.

About 3 years ago, I asked Jane to do my parents in laws Lasting Power of Attorneys (LPAs). The reason this came about was because my mother in law was becoming affected with dementia, and we knew we had a limited time frame to do it.  Three years later and my mother in law has sadly been diagnosed with Alzheimers and had gone downhill quite suddenly.

Cue me ringing Jane in a panic because it had been 3 years and I couldn’t remember the procedure.  Jane very patiently explained (again!) that all was good to go, and as it was all registered we were ready to use it.  It was a HUGE relief.

The point is that because we had everything in place with Jane’s help we saved ourselves a lot of difficult problems in the future.

Jane is so lovely and great at what she does.  I cannot recommend her highly enough for making sure you and your family’s futures are safe.