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Lentells Estates and Probate Services Limited is a CILEX-ACCA Probate Entity, authorised and regulated by CILEx Regulation: 3001241.

We are pleased to offer a competitively priced probate service to our clients, their families and contacts. We can advise on all aspects of Estate Planning, Lasting Power of Attorney, dealing with Probate, acting as executors and general estate management.

Probate Service

The level of service and support you require from Lentells can be agreed at the outset. This is flexible and you can choose to pass the entire process us, or we can assist in those areas where you need most help. The key areas relating to probate are:

• Obtaining the Grant
  • Includes applying to the Probate Registry to obtain the Grant of Representation being the legal authority to enable the estate Executors to deal with the estate.
  • The time required to apply for and obtain the grant varies but could be completed within 4 to 6 months from instruction.
• Valuing the estate
  • Includes compiling details of the deceased’s assets and liabilities, confirming ownership and obtaining valuations of assets where appropriate.
• Calculating the Inheritance tax liability and completion of and submission to HM Revenue & Customs Inheritance tax forms as required.
  • Please see our guide to Inheritance tax - https://www.lentells.co.uk/guides/factsheets
• Administering the estate
  • Includes, collecting the estate assets and settling the estate liabilities, including arranging the payment of any Inheritance tax due, accounting to HM Revenue & Customs for any Income tax and Capital Gains Tax that may be due, paying legacies and distributing assets to the beneficiaries and preparing final estate accounts.

Completion of the estate administration should be completed within 6 to 12 months depending on the complexity of the estate.

Pricing

We think it’s fairer to charge based on the time spent, taking into account the complexity involved rather than just charging a fixed percentage of the estate value. No two estates are alike and the value and complexity of the estate needs to be assessed before a fee estimate can be provided for example if foreign assets are involved, then the time and costs will be higher

We charge on an hourly basis and our current hourly rates are:

• Director - £208.00 + 20% VAT £41.60 = Total £249.60
• Tax Consultant - £162.00 + 20% VAT £32.40 = Total £194.40
• Senior - £100.00 + 20% VAT £20.00 = Total £120.00
• Administration assistant - £46.00 + 20% VAT £9.20 =Total £55.20

If requested we can agree a cap on our fee, although in most cases the actual fee will be less than the cap, based on the actual time spent. In setting a cap fee, we also have to set a minimum fee which is £1,000. Our fees do not include any disbursement or third party costs that arise during the probate process. Examples of disbursements or third party fees which may be incurred in addition to our fees are but not limited to:

• The probate application fee (£273.00 plus £1.50 for additional copies of the grant)
• Professional valuation (fees are variable depending on asset being valued)
• Placing a notice in London Gazette (£109.20)
• Placing a notice in a local newspaper (£100.00 to £150.00)
• Transfer of legal ownership of a property (£1200.00 to £2400.00).

Fee examples

Please click the link to view fee examples

If we are instructed to carry out both probate or letters of administration work, and estate administration work, we are authorised and regulated by CILEx Regulation for the part of the work relating to probate or letters of administration work. The estate administration work is carried out by our accountancy firm Lentells Limited, which is authorised and regulated by ACCA.

We have Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) which covers all the work that we provide. Our insurance is currently provided by Arch Insurance.

Complaints Procedure

Please click here to view our complaints procedure.

Wills and Lasting Power of Attorney

We can also advise on all aspects of Estate Planning, Lasting Power of Attorney and writing or amending Wills. For more information please click here.