Wills, Probate & Administration
With Wills, Probate & Administration, we’ll ensure your wishes are legally recognised and acted upon.
Wills
Anyone over the age of 18 should consider writing and regularly reviewing a will, especially if you are married, a homeowner or a high-net worth individual. In fact, anyone of sound mind who has assets should prepare their will.
Why? Because it’s one of the most important things you can do for your family.
A professionally drafted will ensures that your wishes are clearly expressed. This helps to ensure that your wishes are respected and complied with, reducing the potential for any posthumous family arguments. Such wills are also better placed to stand up to potential challenge.
If you die without making a will, you are said to have died ‘intestate’. This means the law decides who should deal with your affairs and who should inherit your estate (property, funds, etc).
If this happens, your estate might not pass in accordance with your wishes. This could mean that your loved ones are in for a long, and sometimes painful process to wrap up your affairs.
If this happens, your loved ones are usually in for a long, and sometimes painful process to wrap up your affairs.
Ask around – we are the go-to solicitors for exceptional and cost-effective Wills, Probate & Estate Administration.
Our wills are effective, affordable and comprehensible. We won’t blind you with unnecessary jargon and can tailor your will to meet your individual requirements.
You can also enjoy the peace of mind that your will is being stored free of charge in our document strong room.
Probate & Estate Administration
The death of a loved one is always a difficult time for any family. Our probate and estate administration team are compassionate but comprehensive.
We will always work to ensure a watertight process, whether the estate is simple or complex. Indeed, we have vast experience dealing with complex estates, including those with agricultural and business assets. We also work with genealogy companies and can source and deal with beneficiaries spread to the four winds.
An estate can raise many problems so we always propose practical solutions.
We know that families do not want an estate to drag on forever, so we won’t run up unnecessary costs and will conclude the estate administration as soon as we can.
An estate is when administration is required. When we have been made executors of the will, you can be sure of a watertight process. Because we wrote the will and know what to expect.
Even when our clients are executors, they often ask us to act in an estate administration capacity. This could simply be just dealing with a death certificate, which is simple or dealing with a complex estate.
We have vast experience dealing with complex estates, including those with agricultural and business assets. As well as tracking genealogy, sourcing and dealing with beneficiaries spread to the four winds, and inheritance tax.
If these aren’t your forté, it’s always best to engage an experienced solicitor to manage this for you.
Our Approach
- We take the time to understand your needs, what matters to you and your specific circumstances to achieve the solution that is right for you.
- We ensure you and your loved ones are protected.
- We speak in plain English and without all the emotion and drama that can come with creating your will.
- Most of our wills are flat-rate pricing (see below) so you know we’ll meet your budget.
Plan today to make tomorrow easier for you and your loved ones.
Everyone has been so helpful and professional. A special thank you to Louise who has been amazing in her dealings with me.
Pricing - Wills, Probate & Trusts
Grant of Representation Only
Fees payable to third parties (Disbursements).
*Based on an hourly rate of £220 +VAT
This quote is based on an estate where:
- There is a valid will
- There is no more than one property
- There are no more than 3 bank or building society accounts
- There are no other tangible assets.
Work included and key stages
Our fees are in relation to obtaining the grant of probate only. The precise work and stages involved in obtaining a grant of probate vary according to the circumstances. However, we have set out the key stages involved in a typical probate matter:
- Take your instructions and give you initial advice
- Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
- Establish the extent of the estate by identifying the various assets and liabilities, if required
- Identify the type of probate application required
- The application for Grant of Probate is prepared and then signed by the executor and submitted to the Probate Registry together with the Will, if there is one.
Services excluded
Our service will not include any of the following:
- Any contested probate matters or advice on the same
- The collection and distribution of assets
- Advice on tax or other accounting matters
- Advice on assets held outside of the UK
- Submitted the Grant to the various organisations with whom assets are held
- Payment of all estate liabilities
- Confirmation is required that tax is paid up to date and there are no outstanding HMRC claims
- Preparation of estate accounts
- Distribution of the estate in accordance with the terms of the Will
- Any contested probate matters or advice on the same
- Advice on tax or other accounting matters, aside from any taxation incurred during the estate administration
- Advice upon and collection of assets held outside of the UK
- Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate.
Approximate / average timescales
Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 1–3 months, from the date of application.
Factors that could increase costs
In some circumstances we may increase our fees to account for additional time, work or skill required to meet your instructions. Examples include:
- If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there is likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with
- If any additional copies of the grant are required
- A property which requires a valuation
- If the deceased had business interests which require additional input from an accountant.
Uncontested Estate Administration
Fees payable to third parties (Disbursements).
*Based on an hourly rate of £220 +VAT plus 0.5% of the property value and 1% of the assets
This quote is based on an estate where:
- There is a valid will
- There is no more than one property
- There are no more than 3 bank or building society accounts
- There are no other tangible assets
- There are 1 – 4 beneficiaries
- There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets
- There is no inheritance tax payable and the executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC
- There are no claims made against the estate.
Work included and key stages
Our fees include obtaining the grant of probate, collecting assets and distributing them. The precise work and stages involved in a probate matter vary according to the circumstances. However, we have set out the key stages involved in a typical probate matter:
- Take your instructions and give you initial advice
- Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
- Establish the extent of the estate by identifying the various assets and liabilities
- Identify the type of probate application required
- The application for Grant of Probate is prepared and then signed by the executor and submitted to the Probate Registry together with the Will, if there is one
- Once the Grant is received, it is submitted to the various organisations with whom assets are held in order to start the process of transferring the assets into the beneficiaries’ names
- All estate liabilities have to be paid before the estate can be distributed among the beneficiaries
- Confirmation is required that tax is paid up to date and there are no outstanding HMRC claims
- Estate accounts should be prepared thereafter, and the estate distributed in accordance with the terms of the Will.
Services excluded
Our service will not include any of the following:
- Any contested probate matters or advice on the same
- Advice on tax or other accounting matters, aside from any taxation incurred during the estate administration
- Advice upon and collection of assets held outside of the UK
- Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate.
Approximate / average timescales
On average, estates that fall within this quote range are dealt with within 6–18 months.
Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 1–3 months, from the date of application.
Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 2–4 months.
Once this has been done, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 1–2 months.
Factors that could increase costs
In some circumstances we may increase our fees to account for additional time, work or skill required to meet your instructions. Examples include:
- If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there is likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with
- If any additional copies of the grant are required
- A property which requires a valuation
- If the deceased had business interests which require additional input from an accountant.
Qualifications and team experience
Regardless of who works on your matter, they will be supervised by Andrew Hutchinson, Senior Partner.
We’re here to help with your Will, Probate and Estate Administration.
Address
77 North Street
Ripon
North Yorkshire HG4 1DP
Phone
01765 602156
Fax
01765 690018
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