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Wills & PROBATE SERVICES

Powers of Attorney

A Power of Attorney is a written authorisation for someone to act on your behalf in respect of your financial affairs or your health and welfare when you are unable to do so yourself due to illness, disability or old age.

By signing a Power of Attorney, you will have the peace of mind that those who will look after you will have the legal power to deal with your affairs in the way you would like them to be dealt with.

We will meet with you to discuss your individual requirements for your Powers of Attorney. Once we have the necessary information, we will prepare draft documents, confirm your agreement and then draw up the final paperwork for your approval.

Once completed, we will arrange to register the Attorney/s with the Office of the Public Guardian.

Our fees for each form start from £90 inclusive of VAT. There are disbursements of £82 for each form registered.

Will Writing

No one wants to think about a time in the future when we are no longer here. However, it is something that we need to consider so that our wishes can be carried out once we have passed away.

A Will is a formal legal document which states two things: who will receive your money, property and possessions (your estate) when you die and who will be in charge of making sure this is done in accordance with your wishes and legal requirements (your executor/s).

Should you pass away without a valid Will in place, which is known as dying intestate, your estate will be distributed in accordance with the laws of intestacy and the people who you wish to benefit from your estate may not receive anything.

Traditionally, you may have only ever considered using a solicitor for this type of engagement however, at Clay Ratnage & Co., we have highly trained and experienced staff to advise and prepare your Will.

Should you decide to write your Will with us, we offer a bespoke Will writing service. We are fully qualified to be appointed as an executor or, alternatively, you can choose to appoint family members or other professional organisations.

We will meet with you to discuss your individual requirements for your Will. Once we have the necessary information, we will prepare a draft document and arrange a further meeting to confirm your agreement before finalising the Will for your approval.

We are happy to store the original Will for you securely at our offices or, alternatively, you can make your own arrangements for secure storage.

If, during the course of our initial meeting, it is determined that your existing Will merely requires a simple adjustment (known as a Codicil), this can be prepared instead, rather than incurring the unnecessary cost of a new Will.

Our fees for this service start from £180 (inclusive of VAT).

 Probate

When somebody close to you dies, it is difficult to know where to turn when considering the probate application and the administration of the estate.

Traditionally, you may have only considered using a solicitor for this type of engagement but, with recent changes in legislation, this is no longer necessary. Clay Ratnage & Co. has been licensed to carry out probate services for a number of years.

But why use us? We are a well-established firm who have an accumulation of in-depth knowledge in relation to family, business and personal tax matters. We offer a service that is personalised to meet your individual needs and, with this in mind, our fees are raised on a bespoke basis, rather than on a percentage or set fee basis.

Our trained Probate team includes a number of partners and staff with many years’ experience who can provide help at this challenging time. We can provide a sensitive, efficient and practical service including:

  • Applying to the Probate Registry
  • Valuing the assets
  • Completing the relevant tax forms
  • Calculating reliefs and exemptions available including Transferrable Nil Rate Band, Transferrable Residence Nil Rate Band, Agricultural Property Relief, Business Property Relief and gift reliefs
  • Obtaining the Grant of Representation
  • Corresponding with H.M. Revenue & Customs in relation to Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax
  • Transferring or distributing the assets and settling estate liabilities
  • Finalising the deceased’s lifetime tax affairs
  • Preparing the Estate Tax Return in respect of income received into the Estate during the administration period
  • Winding up the estate
  • Setting up any Trusts
  • Preparing estate accounts

Your needs will be unique, and we believe that this is a time for a professional service. Contact one of our probate team to find out how we can help you.

Clay Ratnage & Co. are licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to carry out the reserved legal activity of non-contentious probate in England and Wales. Details of our probate accreditation can be viewed at icaew.com/probate under reference number C005315682.

As an ICAEW registered firm for the provision of probate services, we are obliged to publish diversity information in respect of our employees in accordance with the ICAEW Diversity Data Collection Strategy.

 Complaint Procedures

If you would like to talk to us about how we can 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, Mr. S.J. Garrod. We will consider carefully any complaint that you may make about our probate services as soon as we receive it and will do all we can to resolve the issue. We will acknowledge your complaint within five business days of its receipt and endeavour to deal with it within 8 weeks. Any complaint should be submitted to us in writing.
If we do not deal with it within this timescale or you are unhappy with our response you may of course take the matter up with our professional body, ICAEW, and the Legal Ombudsman. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman should be made within six years of the act or omission or within three years of you becoming aware of the issue, and in either case within six months of our written response to your complaint to us.

Probate Pricing Case Studies

Fee Transparency
We are committed to providing an open and transparent fee structure policy for our probate services. Please find below case studies which provides guidance on our charging structures for our services.

Case Study 1
Case Study 2

Case Study 3

Case Study 4

Case Study 5

Please click here for our diversity summary.

Case Study 1

Mrs D died in 2018 leaving a net estate (this being the value of any assets, minus the value of any liabilities/debts) valued at around £285,000, comprising of: a freehold property, a bank account and personal possessions.

The deceased left her estate entirely to her daughter, who was also appointed executor, and she engaged us to deal with the day-to-day administration of the estate on her behalf.

This involved:

  • Reviewing the Will to ensure its validity
  • Identifying the composition of the estate and ascertaining whether a grant was needed
  • Valuing the estate
  • Ensuring the appropriate Statement of Truth was prepared and submitted
  • Preparing and submitting the papers for the application of the Grant of Probate
  • Transferring the property to the beneficiary
  • Finalising the Estate.

 
This was a straightforward estate to administer and took under a year to finalise.  Our fees in this instance were £650, plus VAT.

Case Study 2

Mrs A died in 2016 leaving a net estate valued at just over £1m, comprising of: a freehold property, a leasehold rental property, a number of bank accounts, listed shares, a life insurance policy and personal possessions together with various refunds and liabilities owing to and from the deceased.

The deceased left specific gifts of jewellery and pecuniary (cash) gifts to her grandchildren and the remainder of her estate was left to her three children.

Her son was appointed as executor and he engaged us to deal with the day-to-day administration of the estate on her behalf.

This involved:

  • Reviewing the Will to ensure its validity
  • Ascertaining the beneficiaries
  • Identifying the composition of the estate and valuing the estate
  • Finalising the Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax position of the deceased at the date of death
  • Preparing papers for submission to HMRC
  • Calculating and paying the Inheritance Tax (some on an instalments basis)
  • Ensuring the appropriate oaths were prepared and taken (now a Statement of Truth)
  • Preparing and submitting the papers for the application of the Grant of Probate
  • Opening and maintaining a designated bank account
  • Taking control of and gathering in the assets
  • Dealing with the sale of the freehold property
  • Transferring the leasehold property to the beneficiaries
  • Encashing the listed shares
  • Liaising with utility companies
  • Finalising the estate and transferring the balance to the residuary beneficiaries
  • Providing estate Accounts.

 
This was a more complex estate to administer and took just over a year to finalise. Our fees in this instance were £5500 plus VAT.

Case Study 3

Mr L died in 2017 leaving a net estate valued at around £295,000, comprising of: a property, bank accounts and personal possessions, together with various refunds and liabilities owing to and from the deceased.

The deceased left his estate to his sons, who were appointed as executors, and they engaged us to deal with the day-to-day administration of the estate on their behalf.

This involved:

  • Reviewing the Will to ensure its validity
  • Identifying the composition of the estate
  • Valuing the estate
  • Preparing papers for submission to HMRC
  • Calculating and paying the Inheritance Tax
  • Ensuring the appropriate oaths were prepared and taken (now a Statement of Truth)
  • Preparing and submitting the papers for the application of the Grant of Probate
  • Opening and maintaining a designated bank accounts
  • Taking control of and gathering in the funds from the Bank accounts
  • Locating title deeds and then arranging the sale of the property
  • Finalising the estate and transferring the balance to the residuary beneficiaries.

 
This was an estate where there was the possibility of an Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 claim and, consequently, additional communications were undertaken during the administration. Nonetheless, the estate took just under a year to finalise. Our fees in this instance were £2000 plus VAT.

Mrs E died in 2018 leaving a net estate valued at around £825,000, comprising of: a freehold property, bank accounts, numerous listed shareholdings, an unincorporated business and personal possessions together with various refunds and liabilities owing to and from the deceased.

The deceased left her entire estate to her husband.

Her husband and her friend were appointed as executors, and they engaged us to deal with the day-to-day administration of the estate on their behalf.

This involved:

  • Reviewing the Will to ensure its validity
  • Identifying the composition of the estate
  • Valuing the estate
  • Ensuring the appropriate Statement of Truth was prepared and taken
  • Preparing and submitting the papers for the application of the Grant of Probate
  • Taking control of and gathering in the funds from the bank accounts
  • Selling the significant portfolio of shareholdings
  • Completion of US taxation regulation forms for US based shareholding
  • Locating title deeds and then transferring the property to the beneficiary
  • Liaising with HMRC regarding the business transfer
  • Finalising the estate and transferring the balance to the residuary beneficiary.

 
This was an estate where the executors handed over absolutely everything to us to administer and had no involvement whatsoever; matters took just over a year to finalise. Our fees in this instance were £3,050.00, plus VAT.

Case Study 5

Mrs H died in 2016 leaving a net Estate (this being the value of any assets, minus the value of any liabilities/debts) valued at around £1.8m, comprising of two freehold properties, multiple blocks of freehold garages, numerous bank accounts, National Savings investments, multiple listed shareholdings, personal possessions together with various refunds and liabilities owing to and from the deceased.

The deceased left specific gifts of property to her daughter and pecuniary (cash) gifts to her grandchildren and the remainder of her estate was left to her husband and daughter.

Her husband and her daughter were appointed as Executors and they engaged us to deal with the day-to-day administration of the Estate on their behalf.

This involved:

  • Reviewing the Will to ensure its validity
  • Preparing a Letter of Renunciation for one of the executors and appointing a professional executor to support the remaining family executor
  • Identifying the composition of the estate
  • Finalising the Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax position of the deceased at the date of death
  • Valuing the estate
  • Ensuring the appropriate oaths were prepared and taken (now a Statement of Truth)
  • Preparing and submitting the papers for the application of the Grant of Probate
  • Opening and maintaining a designated bank account
  • Taking control of and gathering in the funds from the Bank accounts
  • Settling charitable and non-charitable legacies
  • Transferring the shareholdings to the relevant beneficiary
  • Locating title deeds and then transferring the properties and garages to the beneficiaries
  • Finalising the estate and transferring the balance to the residuary beneficiary
  • Providing estate accounts.

 
This was a more complex estate to administer and took just under two years to finalise.  Our fees in this instance were £7300 plus VAT.

Our Probate fees are raised on a bespoke basis and we would typically identify the likelihood of potential pitfalls and complications at the outset of the engagement so that where possible such matters are included within our initial estimate of costs. However, where this is not possible any additional work required would be advised to you together with the relevant hourly rate of the staff member to which it has been assigned.

Such matters might include:

  • Negotiations with HMRC in relation to Agricultural or Business Property Relief matters, or private company share valuations
  • Problematic Will issues
  • Foreign asset grants

Hourly rates (excl. VAT):

  • Partner £200
  • Associate £125
  • Probate Administrator £60
  • Support Staff £30

 
Additional disbursements (expenses relating to the estate administration which are payable to third parties):

  • Probate application fee £155
  • Official sealed copy of the Grant of Representation £1.50 per copy
  • Statutory Notices in the London Gazette £70 plus VAT
  • Third party valuation fees
  • Conveyancing fees in respect of property sales or transfers