Legal Services Prices
Walsh West Estates & Probate Lawyers

   The price of our full administration service typically involves work to:

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• Identify all the deceased’s assets (property, investments and possessions) and all their liabilities (debts, for example, loans and utility bills), to be able to work out the value of their estate.

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• Verify entitlement to the estate under the terms of the deceased’s Will, or in line with Intestacy laws if they died without a Will.

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• Obtain the necessary identification documents for the beneficiaries.

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• Pay Inheritance Tax to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) where applicable, and submit the correct Inheritance Tax return (required whether or not tax has to be paid),

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• Apply to the Probate Registry for the Grant of Representation - a document confirming the legal authority to administer the Estate.

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• After the Grant of Representation is supplied by the Probate Registry, sell the deceased’s assets, settle their liabilities, pay the final Estate administration expenses and account to HMRC for any further Inheritance Tax,

  any Income Tax or Capital Gains    Tax due to or from the Estate.

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• Prepare Estate accounts recording all payments into and out of the Estate, and showing the balance left for distribution to the beneficiaries.    

  Send the Estate accounts to the Personal Representatives (such as the Executor) for approval.

• Providing there are no challenges to the Estate or other complicating factors preventing distribution at this stage, transfer any assets that the beneficiaries wish to retain, and distribute the balance of the Estate funds.

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  How long this type of service takes: On average, for simple cases we will try and conclude the estate administration within 6 - 12 months of being instructed:

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• We allow 3-4 months for obtaining the Grant of Representation from the point we are instructed.

• Collecting assets then follows, which can take a further 3–4 months.

• Once this has been done, distribution of the assets normally takes a further 3-4 months.

• The above time estimates are for guidance only and vary depending upon the work involved.

• Large and/or more complex estates will take longer to conclude as there will likely be Inheritance tax issues which will require us to liaise with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

  HMRC can take up to 6 months to finalise their own position on an estate, and this increases the time it will take for us to conclude the estate administration. 

• Where there are one or more properties in an estate that need to be sold, there might be a delay if a buyer is not found quickly.