Personal Legal Services

Wills and Probate Fees

Explore Garratts Solicitors' clear and fixed fee structure for wills, probate, and lasting power of attorney services, ensuring transparency and affordability in your legal planning.

Fees are subject to VAT at 20% unless stated otherwise.

Wills

  • Standard single Will - £200 plus VAT
  • Standard mirror Wills - £350 plus VAT

Please note that an additional £75 plus VAT will be payable for additional work such as leaving out a spouse, partner or child from your Will, protecting a vulnerable/disabled beneficiary or inclusion of a trust within the Will. 

Should you require a severance of a joint tenancy on a property these will be charged at £125 plus VAT and disbursements (£3-9 office copy entries and £20 per Form Q Restriction)

Codicils

Codicils to existing Wills for brief changes such as change of executors or additional legacies.

  • £150 plus VAT each or £210 plus VAT for mirror Wills

Our Wills service comprises at least two meetings, drafts of the document to review and amend, revision of the Will and execution. Wills are then stored for free, certified copies produced for your records and include registration with the Certainty National Wills database.

If you are in receipt of means tested benefits (Income Support, Guarantee Element of Pension Credit, Housing Beneift, Council Tax Support, Local Housing Allowance, Working Tax Credit  with either Child Tax Credit or Disability Element of Working Tax Credit) we can offer a reduction in our charges.

  • Standard single Will - £150 plus VAT
  • Standard Mirror Wills - £250 plus VAT

Please note that an additional £75 plus VAT will be payable for additional work such as leaving out a spouse, partner or child from your Will, protecting a vulnerable/disabled beneficiary or inclusion of a trust within the Will. 

Should you require a severance of a joint tenancy on a property these will be charged at £125 plus VAT and disbursements (£3-9 office copy entries and £20 per Form Q Restriction).

Powers of Attorney

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) including provision of Certificate and registration with the Office of the Public Guardian:-

  • £450 plus VAT for one LPA for either Property and Financial Affairs or Health and Welfare
  • £650 plus VAT for two LPAs for either Property and/or Financial Affairs or Health and Welfare
  • £950 plus VAT for four LPAs including both Property and Financial Affairs or Health and Welfare

Please note that these fees do not include the Court registration fee of £82 per document but do include an application to remit/reduce the Court fee if you are entitled on the basis of income or benefits.

An additional sum of £200 on account will be taken should it be necessary to obtain a statement of capacity from a medical professional. The clinician may also charge privately for the statement of capacity.

Receive a 10% discount off Wills when drafted at the same time as an LPA.

  • General Powers of Attorney and Advance Directives/Living Wills- £200 plus VAT (per document)
  • Registration of Enduring Power of Attorney - £350 plus VAT plus Court registration fee of £82 per document (subject to fee remission/reduction application)

Probate/Administration of Estates

Application for Grant

  • £900 plus VAT and Probate Registry fees of £273 plus £1.50 per additional copy of Grant.

Dealing with entire estate (obtaining grant, collecting in assets and distributing to beneficiaries)

Our fees will vary depending on the terms of the Will, the nature of the intestacy and the complexity and value of the estate. As a guide, the fees for full administration will typically start from £2,500 to £5,000 plus VAT and disbursements (not including Court and Oath fees and any conveyancing fees).

Our full estate administration service will provide you with the expertise of a solicitor with at least 10 years qualified experience throughout the entire process, along with the support of our dedicated assistants.

This will include:

  • Providing initial advice regarding the Will or intestacy position.
  • Gathering the necessary evidence to complete the application for the Grant and processing the application with the Probate Registry.
  • Collecting in assets, settling liabilities and preparing full estate accounts.
  • Liaising with HMRC and DWP
  • Distribution including bankruptcy checks and obtaining receipts.
  • Searching for missing Wills, dormant investments and placing public notices if required.

Before undertaking any work, we will meet with you to review the Will and discuss the estate. We will then give you a fees estimate – which is a range of costs that we believe we could incur when dealing with the estate.

We would aim of obtain the Grant within 3-5 months of receiving instructions for a full estate administration and within 6-8 weeks for a fixed fee application. Once the Grant has been received the remainder of the administration of the estate can usually be dealt with over the course of a further 3-6 months depending on whether there is property or shares to sell.

Legal fees in these cases will be taken from the Estate when it is in funds. If you are concerned that you are dealing with an Insolvent Estate we will be happy to provide a bespoke quote for providing the appropriate advice.

How we calculate our fee estimates for Probate/Estate Administration

Our minimum fee is £1,500 plus VAT and disbursements plus 1.5% of net residuary estate and 0.75% being net value of residence (in accordance with the Law Society's guidance).

This will cover a basic estate with a Will, one property and up to 4 beneficiaries.

Additional costs

  • Additional £500 plus VAT for per 3 financial institutions to be contacted.
  • Additional £500 plus VAT for every additional 3 beneficiaries.
  • If we are dealing with the utilities and empty property insurance there will be an additional charge of £500 plus VAT to the Estate (in addition to the costs of the utilities and insurance).

Disbursements payable to third parties

  • Court fee of £273
  • £1.50 for each office copy of the grant required
  • £3 plus VAT HM Land Registry official copy entry
  • £2 bankruptcy search per beneficiary
  • HM Land Registry registration fees based on scales and the value and status of the property
  • Other third party costs will be advised as required, e.g. accountant’s fee for potential income tax return, statutory advertisement fee to advertise for unknown creditors, asset tracing fee
  • There may be additional third party costs for lost share certificates and share registrar and/or sale agent fees on transfer or sale of the shares
  • S27 Advertisements in the London Gazette and a local newspaper in from £150 - £300 depending on the local newspaper advertising costs.
  • Stockbroker fees - £25 - £150 depending on the number of shareholdings to be dealt with.

Court of Protection

  • Standard non-contentious Deputyship in accordance with the fixed costs in the Court of Protection
  • Category I Work up to and including the date upon which the court makes an order appointing a deputy for property and affairs - £950 plus VAT
  • Category II Applications under sections 36 (9) or 54 of the Trustee Act 1925 or section 20 of the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act1996 for the appointment of a new trustee in the place of 'P' and applications under section 18(1)(j) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 for authority to exercise any power vested in P, whether beneficially, or as trustee, or otherwise - £500 plus VAT
  • Complex or contentious Deputyship based will be subject to our additional hourly rate
  • Application to challenge fees for Residential Care and Court of Protections work such as Statutory Wills will be charged at our standard hourly rate and a quote can be provided following a discount fixed fee interview.

Trusts, Deeds of Renunciation and Deeds of Variation

  • Trusts created to protect property or for the purposes of estate planning vary from case to case but are typically £1,500 to £3,000 plus VAT
  • A personal injury trust to protect the award of a successful claim will cost £1,000 -£1,500 plus VAT
  • Deeds of Renunciation or Removal from £250 plus VAT
  • Deeds of Variation from £350 plus VAT

 

Accreditations

 
Personal Injury
Mental Health Review Accreditation
Children Law
Criminal Defence Service
Lexcel