Probate Services

We are licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales to carry out the reserved legal activity of non-contentious probate in England and Wales. Whenever and however someone dies it is inevitably an emotional and difficult time for those left behind. We have acted for most of our clients for many years, know and understand their wider family situation and have often already been involved in estate planning and the formulation of their will. This leaves us in a unique position to sympathetically and efficiently assist the executors to apply for probate, to administer the estate and to produce understandable estate accounts for the beneficiaries. We are also very happy to provide non-contentious probate services to anyone else needing assistance in obtaining grant and dealing with Inheritance Tax reporting as required and as part of the onboarding process we will work with you to understand the whole family and asset structure. Please contact Charlotte Ryan in the first instance to discuss how we can help on 01276 61203 or by email to charlotte.ryan@stewartco.co.uk.

When someone passes away there are many emotional, practical and financial matters to attend to with varying degrees of urgency. Those affected attend to notifying family and friends, registering the death, dealing with funeral arrangements and if necessary, securing the property and assets of the deceased and our involvement commences when the executors start to consider the need to obtain a grant of probate and reporting and payment of any IHT due. Services we are asked to provide include: - Gathering details and values of all assets (property, investments, bank accounts etc.) and liabilities (mortgages, loans, taxes etc.) - Notifying financial institutions as required - Preliminary assessment of the IHT position having regard to who the beneficiary(s) is/are, previous lifetime gifts and reliefs available - Completion of IHT returns as required - Drafting of the statement of truth (the new form of oath) - Submission of the grant application to HMCTS - Realising assets once grant is obtained - Preparation of estate accounts - Distributing the estate to the beneficiaries - If required as part of the process we can assist as a separate engagement with concluding lifetime tax affairs and with estate tax returns if relevant.

It typically takes 2 to 3 months to collate the required information and to make the IHT submissions to HMRC. We are always mindful that if IHT is payable it’s due date for payment is 6 months after the death and although HMRC are understanding if assets to pay it cannot be realised by that date it does determine when interest runs from and as such we always strive to achieve as much as possible by this deadline if circumstances permit. Timescales for grant of probate following submission of the application online to HMCTS can vary, but on average take 8-12 weeks. The administration phase after grant is received typically takes around 2 months but depends on the types of assets to be distributed.

We charge based on the time spent dealing with the estate. We do not charge any percentage on the value of the estate. Disbursements such as the probate application fee and other out of pocket expenses are recharged at cost. Every estate is different and some of the tasks can be time consuming but require an attention to detail that warrants them being carried out by senior staff. Our charge out rates for this work are between £150 and £350 per hour + VAT. We are always happy to give an indicative quotation at the outset once we understand the nature of the assets, liabilities and the complexity of the will and will always keep you informed as matters progress. On an indicative basis the very simplest estates with no IHT due and few assets to value and distribute will incur fees in the range of £1,500 to £2,500 + VAT. Many estates we deal with have one property, a few bank accounts, a couple of investments and normal personal assets and incur fees in the range £3,500 to £7,500 + VAT, influenced in part by whether it is an excepted estate or a larger, more complex case involving the fuller IHT400 and associated supporting forms. Large numbers of directly held shareholdings are time consuming to deal with the registrars thereof and add cost as do additional properties and will increase the time involved. In some cases this and other complications result in fees significantly in excess of those cited above but we will always seek to estimate up front and keep the executors informed as matters progress. We have facilities to open a designated client account through which to process asset realisations, liability payments and distributions but opening one, operating it and closing it is a time consuming process for which an additional fee of at least £600 + VAT will arise.

As the firm is licensed for non-contentious probate services by the ICAEW, there is access to the Legal Ombudsman and the ICAEW Probate Compensation Scheme. If you would like to talk to us about how we could improve our service to you, or if you are unhappy with the service you are receiving, please let us know by contacting our Head of Legal Practice, David Hartley (david.hartley@stewartco.co.uk). We will consider carefully 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 it. We will acknowledge your letter within five business days of its receipt and endeavour to deal with it within eight weeks. If we do not deal with your complaint in this time, or if you are unhappy with our response, you may of course take up the matter with the Legal Ombudsman (LeO). The Legal Ombudsman’s ability to deal with your complaint is dependent on the following factor’s; you must refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman no later than 1) 12 months from the act/omission; or 2) 12 months from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint; and 3) you must refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of the date of our written response. Contact details for the Legal Ombudsman: Telephone 0300 555 0333, e-mail enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or by post Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH. In the unlikely event that we cannot meet our liabilities to you, you may be able to seek a grant from ICAEW’s Probate Compensation Scheme. Generally, applications for a grant must be made to ICAEW within 12 months of the time you become aware, or reasonably ought to have been aware of the loss. Further information about the scheme and the circumstances in which grants may be made is available on ICAEW’s website: www.icaew.com/probate.

The firm subscribes to the principles of Equality & Diversity and our recruitment policy is based solely on ability to fulfil the role irrespective of age, sex/gender, disability, ethnic background, faith, sexual orientation or socio-economic background. Broadly our partners and staff are 43% male and 57% female and we have a broad spread of ages between 18 and 70. Whilst the majority of our staff are from a white UK background, we also have staff from other ethnic backgrounds. The majority of our staff have received UK state education, and around 50% have attended university. We are supportive of staff who have caring responsibilities as well as those expecting and bringing up families and we are also supportive of flexible working patterns. We are also supportive of neurodiversity within our team and will continue to ensure we offer an inclusive environment for all. The results have been obtained from our latest biennial diversity survey dated March 2025.