Probate

The information below is supplementary to the details above. Our charges for administering an estate are calculated on a time basis. We do not charge based on the value of the estate. Our current hourly rates for the employees who would typically be involved are:

• Senior: £175 plus VAT
• Manager: £230 plus VAT
• Director: £615 plus VAT
• Partner: £620 plus VAT

Below we provided an approximate indication of our likely fees by categorising probate work as basic, complex or very complex.

Basic cases

These would typically be characterised as:

• No inheritance tax (IHT)
• A maximum of two beneficiaries
• A maximum of five bank accounts
• Few dividend holdings
• No intangible or business assets
• No potentially exempt transfers or gifts out of income

Our fees for this type of estate would usually be in the range of £8,000 plus VAT to £12,000 plus VAT.

In very simple cases, fees may be in the range of £4,500 to £8,000 plus VAT.

Complex cases

These would typically be characterised as:

• IHT to pay
• Multiple beneficiaries
• Multiple bank accounts
• Multiple investments
• Multiple properties
• Life assurance policies
• Potentially exempt transfers
• Gifts out of income
• Business property

Our fees for this type of estate would usually be in the range of £12,000 plus VAT to £24,000 plus VAT.

Very complex cases

These cases would involve most of the aspects of complex cases plus multiple high value assets, foreign assets and probate, Lloyd’s underwriters, and estate accounts. Our fees for that would be in excess of £24,000 plus VAT. Unfortunately, we cannot provide a cap as such cases can sometimes take years to finalise.

Disbursements

Disbursements such as probate court fees and other third-party costs would be additional to the fees quoted above.

Additional services

We are also able to offer additional services such as:

• Estate accounts
• Estate administration (i.e. arranging settlement of the debts of an estate and distributing the bequests)
• Executor bank accounts
• Resealing foreign grants

Prices for our estate planning services are available on request. We do not deal with contentious probate. If a case that we are dealing with becomes contentious, we would bring in lawyers to resolve the position, before recommencing work. Such costs would of course be additional.

Our complaints partner for probate work is Geraint Jones. You can contact him on +44(0)20 8922 9354 or in writing at [email protected]. If you have any special needs due to language or disability, please let us know.

We will carefully consider any complaint you may make about our probate or estate administration work as soon as we receive it and do all we can to resolve matters. We will acknowledge your complaint within five business days of receipt and endeavour to deal with the issue within eight weeks.

If we do not deal with your complaint within the above timescale, or if you are unhappy with our response, you may of course take up the matter with the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman’s ability to deal with your complaint is dependent on the following factors:

• You must refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman no later than:
• Six years from the act/omission; or
• Three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint; and
• You must refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of the date of our written response.

Contact details for the Ombudsman:

• 0300 555 0333
• [email protected]
• Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ.

In the unlikely event that we cannot meet our liabilities to you, you may be able to seek a grant from the ICAEW’s Probate Compensation Scheme. Generally, applications for a grant must be made to the ICAEW within 12 months of the time you became aware, or reasonably ought to have become aware, of the loss.

Further information about the scheme and the circumstances in which grants may be made is available here on the ICAEW’s website.

Our professional indemnity insurer is AIG UK Limited, The AIG Building, 58 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 4AB. The territorial coverage is worldwide excluding professional business carried out from an office in the United States of America or Canada.

A snapshot of BKL’s diversity

Understanding those who choose to work with us, and ensuring that we create an environment that works for all, is a pivotal focus of who we are at BKL. The most recent ICAEW Probate Diversity Survey (2023) represented an excellent opportunity for us as employers to better understand our people, and enable us to continue our work in diversity, equity and inclusion.

With a response rate of 82%, we’re confident that the results of this survey accurately represented the wide-ranging diversity at BKL.

This snapshot showed that:

• Over 30% of our team are from non-white ethnic backgrounds
• Our gender-balance currently is weighted towards having more male or male-identifying employees (56%)
• 63% are under 45, with 43% being under 35
• 33% were the first generation in their family to go to university
• “No religion” constitutes the largest group when questioned on their faith

We also recognise that between 3-7% of respondents selected “prefer not to say” on any given question. This represents an opportunity for us to create an even more inclusive culture where all our people feel comfortable sharing the many facets of their diversity.

Find out more in our ICAEW Probate Survey results for 2023.