Wills & Probate & other Grants of Administration

The Private Client team has a wealth of experience in preparing Wills and obtaining Probate or Letters of Administration, not only in the UK but also in various international jurisdictions. Because of our many Nordic clients, we are often involved in managing estates with complex succession and cross-border tax issues, which has enabled us to develop a particular expertise in this area

Our services comprise:

• Preparing tailored Wills for our clients whether they are UK or foreign domiciled and outlining the relevant tax implications.
• Settling of trusts to protect assets for younger children and outlining the relevant tax implications
• Living Wills (Lasting Powers of Attorney), which enable someone you trust to deal with your welfare, property and financial affairs
• Estate administration (whether or not there is a Will)  ranging from modest estates with predominantly English assets, to large-scale estates including international assets of substantial value and business assets
• We also advise beneficiaries and Trustees on the variation of Wills and tax planning strategies.

Fees

Our fees can be based on the time spent on the matter, in which case our competitive hourly rates will be clearly set out in our Engagement Letter to you.  We would hope to be able to give you an estimate of our fees at the outset although there is always the risk that complications will arise causing the estimate to be exceeded.  In this case we will inform you during the course of the transaction if we believe matters are becoming unduly complex.

Alternatively you may prefer the certainty of a fixed fee quote and this would typically be based on 2% of the value of the Estate.

Interim payments may be charged in certain circumstances.

If any property is to be sold as part of the probate process then the fee for this would be an additional charge. Please see our Conveyancing section for fees in this respect.