Whether you are planning for your own future or wish to help and support a family member, our experienced team will provide a personal and professional service that is tailored to you.
We are happy to meet clients in the office, at home, or in residential care, hospital or hospice settings, as well as by telephone.
We specialise in the following fields:
Wills
Creating a Will allows you to choose who will be responsible for dealing with your affairs after you have died and who will receive your assets. It can allow you to leave your assets in the most tax-efficient way possible or let you set up trusts.
A Will can also allow you to appoint someone to take over the care of your children if they are under 18 at the date of your death.
If you do not have a Will then the intestacy rules will set out who deals with your affairs and who inherits your assets.
We can advise on all of the options available to you and make sure that you have a Will that suits your individual circumstances. We recommend that you review your Will every 3–5 years to ensure that it reflects any changes in your personal circumstances and any changes in the law.
Registering your Will with Certainty – The National Will Register
Have you registered your Will? We can register your Will for you with Certainty, the National Will Register, and if you write your Will with us we will do this for free.
In a recent UK survey, two thirds of children would not know where to locate their parents’ Wills. The passage of time, house moves and new relationships are all contributing factors. If your Will is lost, or never written, your loved ones and beneficiaries are exposed to potential financial loss and additional stress.
We hold your Will safely at our offices, and record its location with The National Will Register so that executors or beneficiaries can always locate it when the time comes.
Powers of Attorney
By creating a Lasting Power of Attorney you can choose someone you trust to help you manage your affairs and let them make decisions for you if you subsequently become unable to make such decisions for yourself.
You can make a Lasting Power of Attorney for Property & Financial Affairs and/or Health & Welfare. Before Lasting Powers of Attorney can be used they must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. We can assist you with preparing and registering Lasting Powers of Attorney.
If someone made an Enduring Power of Attorney (before October 2007) and they are now losing or have lost mental capacity, we can help you with the formalities of registering it with the Office of the Public Guardian.
Court of Protection
If someone has lost mental capacity without having previously made an Enduring or Lasting Power of Attorney, it will be too late for them to do so.
It will be possible for someone, usually a family member or friend, to apply to the Court of Protection to be formally appointed as a ‘Deputy’. A Deputy can manage the financial affairs of the person who has lost capacity.
Alternatively, if a co-owner of a property has lost capacity, it may be necessary for a separate application to be made to the Court of Protection before the property can be sold.
We can help you with applications to the Court and also help the appointed Deputy with their ongoing role.
Trusts
It is possible to set up a trust while you are alive or to include a trust in your Will. A trust in your Will only comes into effect once you have died.
When creating a trust you need to choose ‘Trustees’ who will then manage the assets put into trust on behalf of the beneficiaries in accordance with the terms of the trust.
Trusts can be used to protect vulnerable beneficiaries (such as children or people with disabilities), preserve wealth for future generations or mitigate potential tax liabilities.
We can assist you with creating trusts, provide advice on existing trusts and help with ongoing trust administration.
Probate
When a family member or friend passes away you may find yourself responsible for winding up their affairs. Probate is the term used for the legal process of dealing with the estate of someone who has died.
If there is a Will, the executors named in the Will are responsible for administering the estate. If there is no Will, the rules of intestacy state who will be responsible for dealing with the estate.
The person responsible for administering the estate may need to apply for a grant from the Probate Registry, collect and realise the assets, discharge any liabilities (unpaid bills, taxes and funeral expenses) and ensure that the balance of the estate is shared between the beneficiaries correctly.
The people administering the estate are personally responsible for it and can be sued by beneficiaries or creditors if the estate isn’t dealt with correctly.
Our expertise allows us to deal with complex estates and legal issues. We offer professional but sensitive guidance; we will save you as much time, money and heartache as we can and endeavour to settle the estate fairly and efficiently.
Our Probate Fees
It can be difficult to provide an accurate estimate for probate work as no two estates are the same. The costs vary depending on the complexity of an estate, whether or not Inheritance Tax is payable and the way that the assets are shared out in a Will.
Advice Only Service
If you would simply like some advice about administering an estate but would prefer to administer the estate yourself, we offer a fixed-fee appointment of a maximum of one hour for £150 plus VAT at 20%.
If you decide that you would like further advice from us after this meeting, we would be happy to assist and this would be charged at the hourly rate applicable to the member of our team responsible for the work.
Grant Only Service
If you want to administer the estate yourself but would like us to help you obtain the Grant from the Probate Registry, we can assist on a fixed-fee basis of £750 plus VAT at 20% and expenses. This service is available where there is no Inheritance Tax payable and a full Inheritance Tax return is not required.
The following expenses are payable in addition to our fees:
| Expense | Cost |
|---|---|
| Probate Registry fee | £526 (not subject to VAT) |
| Copies of Grant | £2.00 per copy (not subject to VAT) |
We will not be responsible for advising you on the steps needed to conclude the administration of the estate if you use this Grant Only service.
Full Service
We can advise and assist you with all aspects of estate administration, dealing with as much or as little as you wish on your behalf, charged at the hourly rate applicable to the member of our team responsible for the work. Estate administration involves:
- Registering the death
- Organising the funeral
- Rehoming pets
- Reviewing the Will if there is one
- Identifying the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
- Organising payment of the funeral from the deceased’s funds
- Ascertaining full details of the assets and liabilities of the estate
- Preparing the relevant Inheritance Tax return and claiming all appropriate allowances, exemptions and reliefs
- Applying for the Grant from the Probate Registry
- Dealing with any queries HMRC may have following submission of the Inheritance Tax return
- Considering any claims made against the estate
- Establishing who is entitled to inherit under the intestacy rules if there is no Will
- Collecting in the estate assets and settling any bills and other liabilities
- Dealing with any Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax liabilities that arise during the administration
- Preparing estate accounts and distributing the estate to the beneficiaries
- Setting up any ongoing trusts created by the Will and registering these with the Trust Registration Service
During our initial meeting we will ask you for information so that we can provide our best estimate of the costs. To put this into context, we anticipate that our fees would be as follows:
| Type of estate | Typical features | Likely cost (plus VAT at 20%) |
|---|---|---|
| Very simple | One or two bank or building society accounts, little or no debt, one or two beneficiaries | £2,820 – £4,230 |
| More complicated | Several accounts, other investments or shares, property, some debt, Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax to pay, Inheritance Tax allowances to claim, more than one beneficiary | £4,230 – £9,870 |
| Complex | Multiple accounts, investments or shares, property, significant debt, Inheritance Tax, Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax to pay, unusual gifts or multiple beneficiaries | £10,152 – £25,000 |
How long will this take?
On average, very simple estates are administered within 12–18 months of death. Some may be administered more quickly and others can take much longer depending on the circumstances. In more complicated and complex estates this may extend to 2–3 years after the date of death.
Potential additional costs and delays
Situations where additional costs and delays are likely to arise include (but are not limited to) where:
- The validity of the Will is challenged
- A claim is made against the estate, including an Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 claim
- Ownership of estate assets is disputed or unclear
- A dispute arises between executors or beneficiaries
- Charities are named as residuary beneficiaries
- There are foreign assets
- Inheritance Tax is payable and there are not enough liquid funds in the estate to pay it
- HMRC refers estate valuations to the District Valuer
- There are issues with a property that may delay its sale (such as its condition, mortgageability or problems with the legal title)
- A Deed of Variation or Deed of Appointment is required
- The Will or intestacy rules create an ongoing trust which needs to be set up and registered with the Trust Registration Service
Sale of land and property
Our estimate would not include fees for the sale of land or property owned by the deceased, as this is dealt with by our conveyancing team, who can give you their own estimate.
Other expenses
| Expense | Estimated cost |
|---|---|
| Probate Registry fee | £526 (not subject to VAT) |
| Copies of Grant | £2.00 per copy (not subject to VAT) |
| Certainty Will Search fees | £49 – £105 plus VAT |
| Land Registry office copies | £7 per document plus VAT |
| Bankruptcy search fees | £6 per person plus VAT |
| Bankruptcy search fees (non-UK residents) | Varies by country, usually from £50 per person plus VAT |
| S27 Trustee Act notices | Varies by publication, usually £92 – £130 plus VAT |
| Land Registry fees on change of ownership (registered land) | £20 – £910 (not subject to VAT) |
| Land Registry fees on change of ownership (unregistered land) | £30 – £680 (not subject to VAT) |
| Land Charge searches | £7 per name searched plus VAT |
| Assets & liabilities search | £25 – £195 plus VAT |
Our hourly rates
Our hourly rates may change from time to time and if this happens we will notify you of the change and its impact on our charges. Please contact us for the current hourly rate of the solicitor who will handle your matter.
Our Lawyers
Tracy Wilkes
Consultant Solicitor
With Lewis Lines and Wilkes for over 25 years
Conveyancing, Wills & Probate, Lasting Powers of Attorney
I know that moving house can be exciting, but it can also be stressful and sometimes overwhelming. My job is to take as much of that stress away as possible. I believe in keeping things simple, explaining everything in plain English, and making sure you always know what’s happening with your transaction.
Our wider team at Mortimers Solicitors
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