Probate Service Options – or how not to pay WAY too much.
1) The Assisted Probate Service
This is a service we developed with practitioners to fill a hole in the market where some help is needed, but the family executors are happy to do most of the work.It can range from an hour’s help to fixed fee quotes for just helping obtain the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.We would NOT advise using the Assisted Probate Service if there are arguments and the case might become what is called Contentious Probate. 
So is there a middle way to get probate advice that doesn’t cost too much and is totally flexible, I asked. There wasn’t anything that quite fitted the bill, so I had a chat with a probate expert and helped to design the Assisted Probate Service as a low-cost alternative. Why not let the clients do as much or as little of the legwork as they like? Many of the jobs – with a bit of guidance – are really simple and there is no need to pay a professional to do them. But you still need to avoid pitfalls that you may not even be aware of.Further benefits are very low overheads, reflected in the fees, and just one person to deal with, with a direct dial number.
How does the Assisted Probate Service help with Probate?
Quite simply, it offers as much or as little help as the executors want, though these days most families go for one of the fixed fee probate options.
- Maybe you need the real meaning of the Will explained – many family executors have no experience in interpreting Wills. A spot of professional advice could save serious problems.
- If there is not a Will, who is entitled to what?
- Is it possible to change the Will to benefit someone who should have been included, to avoid any threat of very expensive Court action?
- Maybe the executors just want the probate forms checked?
- Which also reassures the beneficiaries that things are being checked. They are often suspicious of executors (and sometimes quite rightly!)
- Just a bit of handholding with low-cost probate advice as needed?
- Perhaps they want to do searches for potential missing assets or beneficiaries.
- Maybe the Executors are busy and want someone else to get the correct value to put in the forms.
- The Assisted Probate Service can point you in the right direction if you want to do s.27 adverts to protect you against claims from creditors being received after these have expired. But I would remind you that it is not suited to cases where there are arguments, and should that happen they may well suggest you talk to a Contentious Probate Solicitor.
- Maybe you just want to hand it all over to somebody else to prevent arguments in the family at what can be a very stressful time.
- The service can provide low-cost probate help or just low-cost probate advice.
- There is a range of fixed fee probate options available – pop your details in below, and I will ask them to let you have details of how much you can save.
2) Probate Help: Full Estate Administration Service.
If you just want everything done for you (the cost comes out of the deceased assets in the end), or at least, most of it, then you need a flexible full estate administration service, not the (probably) lower-cost options. You can also use a bespoke service if your needs don’t fit into one of the standard packages. Our function is to match your requirements and the complexity of the estate with a suitable adviser charging sensible fees. Our function is to look at the service levels and fees charged by probate solicitors and other professionals and to recommend a suitable service to you. (Click for our general page on Contentious Probate.)Many people fail to understand and compare probate quotes, and they are shocked when the final bill is (maybe) 3 times higher than they had expected. Here are some of the tricks of the trade, starting with the most expensive:
- The Responsibility Allowance – solicitors are allowed to charge as much as 1.8% of the value of the estate as a “responsibility allowance.” This is on top of any other charges they might make, so on a £500,000 estate that would be £9.000 for absolutely nothing. Double that on a million-pound estate and for a more normal £250,000 estate an extra £4,500.
- Fees are charged on the Gross estate – so one with nothing but a property worth £500,000 and a mortgage of £250,000, the percentage fee would be based on £750,000.
- Many firms charge for both the time and the action – so someone producing 1o automated letters in half an hour might charge £125 for the time and ten times £45 for the letters – a total of £575 Plus VAT for 30 minutes of work and 10 first-class stamps.
How much can we save you? It costs nothing to find out.
Just avoiding those three issues can save a fortune in comparing probate quotes. Not only that, we don’t send work to firms who do not provide a very high level of service. To be fair, the hold-ups in the probate process are not always due to the probate professionals involved, but careful monitoring of client feedback is a vital part of what we do.To find out more about the estate administration service, please use the contact form to the right or give us a ring. Full estate administration includes confirming the value of assets and liabilities, organising the grant of probate or letters of administration, identifying the beneficiaries, collecting the assets, and then paying the bills and any tax due. Finally (sorry!) the beneficiaries are paid.If arguments start, the case then becomes “contentious probate” and we will have to advise you to get specialist solicitors involved – but we know ones who charge sensible fees. Probate arguments are becoming more common, but it is comforting to work with professionals who will do everything they can to avoid resorting to incredibly expensive Court work. If necessary, it is very much a question of finding serious expertise at sensible costs: we can still help.Our lowest-cost associates’ full estate administration service will normally offer a saving of £100 an hour or perhaps much more. And no sneaky extras, just fair and reasonable expenses they have to pay out on your behalf.If you would prefer a flat fee for the estate administration, subject to no unpleasant surprises, we can arrange that too via associates at a rate of 1.25% of the gross value of the estate plus VAT and third-party costs. When you compare probate quotes, remember to ask very carefully about the extras above.
3) The COMPREHENSIVE Service for busy, poorly or far away executors
Not everyone has the time to carry out the full range of duties including sorting, drain, downs, lock changing, insurance, grass cutting, minor repairs, dealing with estate agents and much more. So we have developed another unique service to take care of all that for you. The Probate Fee itself will be highly competitive, and the extras charged at non-professional rates, so you needn’t fear that the solicitors will be charging for cutting the grass themselves.The service can be carried out on a come-to-you basis as long as you are in the UK.
4) If there is a dispute.
This is a different ball game entirely, and it is absolutely CRUCIAL to take advice from true specialists. Get it wrong, and you could end up homeless, so don’t assume your local High Street solicitor is an expert on Contentious Probate as well as everything else. Have a look at our Contentious Probate pages or the Claim Checker.
How much can we save you? It costs nothing to find out.
May be of interest: How to sell probate property fast.Probate quotes do NOT include Court fees, search fees, conveyancing costs, buildings and other insurances. There can be many reasons why some of these are recommended, but these would generally come as “disbursements.” The Assisted Probate Service does not get too involved in these unless you require full estate administration. Their estate administration service is at least 40% below the average charged in the market, so well worth a look if that is what you need and you like the idea of a fixed fee probate quote, use the form above or give me a call.
ENQUIRY for Probate Quotes: how much can I save you?
[contact-form to=”st***@*********************co.uk” subject=”Probate Quote Enquiry”][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Phone numbers” type=”text”][contact-field label=”Details of executors (or next of kin if none)” type=”text”][contact-field label=”What level of service is your preference” type=”checkbox-multiple” required=”1″ options=”One hours advice (can be extended),Assisted Probate Service to gain Grant,Full Service,COMPREHENSIVE Service,Other (details below),Can I have a chat with Steve before deciding? (NOT legal advice.)”][contact-field label=”Your notes” type=”text”][/contact-form] .