Costs

Please note that where VAT is stated, VAT is payable at the rate of 20%

Private Client

At Gales Solicitors we recognise that when acting for clients who have been named as Executors of a Will, our clients will have many decisions to make. One of these decisions relates to seeking legal advice to support the Executors during the administration of the Estate. There are a number of options available in the supply of our legal services which we will discuss at our initial meeting.

Our private client team takes client care seriously. We offer a personal and professional bespoke service. We take pride in the fact that many of our instructions are from clients and the families of clients for whom we have acted before or from clients who have been recommended to us by their own friends and family.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has introduced new rules in respect of transparency in price and service; we are required to publish prices for probate work for dealing with the administration of an Estate, from start to finish, in relation to uncontested cases where all the assets are in the UK. This includes both testate cases (where the deceased has left a valid Will) and intestate cases (where there is no valid Will) and estates which are subject to the payment of Inheritance Tax and estates where no Inheritance Tax liability is anticipated. You may not need our help on all these aspects in dealing with the administration of the Estate and that is why all options are discussed at our initial meeting and a fixed fee agreed at that time, depending on the level of work required.

If you decide to instruct us to deal with the whole administration of the Estate, as part of our costs we will:

Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate lawyer to work on your matter
Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application
Advise on the Inheritance Tax position and available reliefs and exemptions
Complete the Probate application and deal with the relevant HM Revenue & Customs Inheritance Tax Reporting (please see important note below regarding Inheritance Tax)
Draft a Statement of Truth for you to sign
Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
Obtain the Probate and supply sealed copies to you
Collect and distribute all assets in the estate

Our Costs

Usually we undertake this work on the basis of a fixed price estimate, depending on the amount of work anticipated in a particular case. The fixed price estimate will be supplied at the outset, on the basis of the information you supply.

Our fixed price costs for work in the administration of an Estate of the type outlined here start at £3,950 plus VAT, to include liaising with financial organisations to obtain the necessary information to complete the paperwork, review of the property title, preparing the Statement of Truth leading to the issue of the Grant of Representation, dealing with Tax reporting requirements and then following the issue of the Grant, to include dealing with the collection in of the assets and distribution.

This estimated figure applies to an Estate where:

There is a valid Will
There is no more than one property
There are no more than five bank or building society accounts
There are no other intangible assets
There are between one to three beneficiaries
There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
No Inheritance Tax is payable and the only Inheritance Tax reporting is via the online grant application from an 'excepted' Estate, ie the Executors do not need to submit a full account to HM Revenue & Customs or claim any additional Inheritance Tax reliefs or exemptions for which a fill return is needed.
There are no claims made against the estate.

Inheritance Tax

In all Estates where a Grant of Probate is required, Inheritance Tax report of some type will be required. Our estimated costs include dealing with IHT related requirement in an 'expected' Estate.

Even if no Inheritance Tax is payable, sometimes it is necessary to lodge additional claim forms or submit a full Inheritance Tax return to secure all available Inheritance Tax exemptions and reliefs. Depending on the nature of the claim, additional costs will arise but these will be discussed with you at the outset.

Where Inheritance Tax is payable in an Estate, a full Inheritance Tax Return will be required and tax must be paid. Usually we undertake the work involved in the submission of a full Inheritance Tax and liaising with financial organisations to secure the release of the tax payable (if applicable) on the basis of a fixed price estimate. Again, additional costs will arise but these will be discussed with you at the outset.

For further information about Inheritance Tax, you may find the following links helpful:
www.gov.uk or www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk

Additional expenses (called “disbursements”)

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

The following disbursements are anticipated; these are payable in addition to our fees:

Probate Court application fee of £300
If any additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost £1.50 (one sealed copy per asset usually)
Official copy of the title to the property (register only) £8.80
Bankruptcy only Land Charges Department searches (£7.80 per beneficiary)
Publication of notices in The London Gazette and a local newspaper approx £250; to provide protection for the Executors against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.

Potential additional legal costs

If there is no Will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there are likely to be additional costs that could increase significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate estimate once we have more information.
If there are any foreign assets in the Estate; again we can give you a more accurate estimate once we have more information.
Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included in this costs estimate.

How long will this take?

On average, this type of estate administration is dealt with within six to twelve months. Within this time scale, there are two key stages; the obtaining of the Grant of Probate, which could take up to four to six months, sometimes much earlier depending on the speed with which the Estate can be valued. The second key stage is the distribution of the Estate, which will take place once the assets have been encashed and the Executors are ready to release the same.

More information about the process of dealing with an Estate is available on www.legalchoices.org.uk, a website provided by legal regulators including The Solicitors Regulation Authority and ILEX Professional Standards.

Our private client team

Based in the heart of Winton, Gales Solicitors have been providing legal services to our clients, both local and further afield since 1948. In 2018 we celebrated both our 70th anniversary and the amalgamation of Gales Solicitors with Robert Wrynne Solicitors of Tuckton. We aim to offer expert advice with a friendly face.

Our Private Client team offers over thirty years of collective experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to Wills and the administration of Estates. We aim to provide a single point of contact to deal with the legal issues that matter to you. We take particular care to review Inheritance Tax reliefs and exemptions to ensure that every Estate we deal with benefits from the maximum reliefs and exemptions available.

With the help of our able support team, the following are here to help you:

Kathryn Cole – Lawyer and Private Client and Probate Manager

Kathryn is based at our Winton office and has over twenty five years’ experience in private client work, specialising in Wills and probate. Kathryn is an award-winning Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, having been named as the Graduate of the Year in 2015. Kathryn has helped thousands of families and individuals during her legal career in Bournemouth and as well as advising on the administration of Estates, is also an experienced conveyancer, so where a property is involved, will be able to advise on all aspects of the Estate administration.

Sarah England – Solicitor and Director of Gales Solicitors

Sarah is based at our Tuckton office. Having gained her law degree at Southampton University in 2001 and a Master’s Degree in Law in 2003, Sarah qualified first as a Barrister in 2004 and as a Solicitor in 2008. In the past, Sarah has specialised in litigation work including Coroner’s Inquests but has recently expanded her area of expertise to include Wills and Probate, having undertaken an intensive training course in this specialist area.

Sue Kilpatrick – Paralegal

Sue is based at our Winton office. Having previously qualified as a solicitor, specialising in Wills and probate work, she left the profession to focus on her family. Sue has now returned to the law as a paralegal and joined Gales Solicitors in July 2016 to assist in the Wills and Probate team.

Matthew Moore – our firm’s Director and supervising Solicitor

Matthew originally qualified as a Barrister and was called to the Bar for the first time in 1999. Matthew joined Gales Solicitors in March 2000, qualifying as a solicitor two years later. He has been the Chairman of the Trustee Board of Bournemouth and Poole Citizens Advice Bureau, the liaison officer between the Bournemouth & District Law Society and the local Citizens Advice Bureau and is now Chairman of the Winton Traders’ Association.

Employment Law Costs

What do our costs include?

Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on the initial merits and likely compensation (this will be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)
Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached
Preparing the claim form or response form
Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party
Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
Preparing or considering a schedule of loss and/or counter schedule of loss
Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing
Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents (called disclosure)
Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
Preparing bundle of documents for use at court
Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to the barrister

The stages set out above are an indication of those stages which are usual in most cases. In certain circumstances, however, some of these stages may not be required or there may be additional stages because there is a need to deal with certain aspects of the claim discretely from the main hearing itself. This could lead to the fee being reduced or increased depending on what is actually required. You may wish to deal with certain aspects of the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. We are happy to discuss such arrangements directly with you, such arrangements can include fixed fee prices for drafting and advice on an hourly rate basis which would be charged at the rate of £250 plus VAT.

Timeline

The average Employment Tribunal claim will take 6 to 9 months. However, much will depend on the courts avalibility and if your hearing is likley to last 3 days or more generally speaking your claim can take 12 to 18 months.

Employees

Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal are as follows:-
Simple Case £4,000 to £5,000 excl. VAT (£4,800 to £6,000 including VAT)
Medium Complexity Case: £7,000 to £9,000 excl. VAT (£8,400 to £10,800 including VAT)
High Complexity Case: £10,000 to £15,000 excl. VAT (£12,000 to £18,000 including VAT)
Simple case would be a case listed for a 1-day Hearing
Medium complexity case will be a Hearing listed for 2 to 3 days
High complexity case will be a Hearing listed for 4 or more days. High complexity cases will include preparation but not attendance at Tribunal whether by ourselves or by Counsel. Preparation is based on a hourly rate of £250 plus VAT per hour. Costs for attendance at Tribunal will depend on the number of days your case is listed for and the cost of attendance will be provided to you once the length of hearing is known. VAT is charged at the rate of 20%.

Funding Options

Funding may be provided through an Insurance such as your home contents insurance. We also offer funding in certain circumstances under a no-win no-fee agreement. This however will depend upon the merits of the case and the likely quantum ordered at Tribunal along with the likelihood of recoverability of any award from your employer. Our fees will amount to a maximum of 35% including VAT of damages awarded by the Tribunal.

Additional Fees

Additional fees for travelling and parking at Tribunal is charged separately, travel at 0.45p per mile, average cost is around £50 (£60 including VAT). Barristers fees may be payable in addition, barristers fees are usually between £1,000 to £3,000 per day (£1,200 to £3,600 including VAT). The barrister’s fees are normally payable in two parts – a ‘brief’ fee for preparation and dealing with the first day of the case, and then a ‘refresher’ fee for each subsequent day that the barrister needs to attend. The brief fee is generally between 1.5 and 3 times the refresher rate. The daily rates we have provided are an aggregate of brief and refresher fees taking into account our experience of both the fees normally charged and the average length of hearings. In some circumstances the barrister may also be willing to represent you under a no-win no-fee agreement.

Employers

Simple Case £6,000 to £8,000 excl VAT (£7,200 to £9,600 including VAT)
Medium Complexity Case £9,000 to £12,000 excl VAT (£10,800 to £14,400 including VAT)
High Complexity Case £22,000 to £45,000 excl VAT (£26,400 to £54,000 including VAT)
Medium complexity case will be a Hearing listed for 2 to 3 days
High complexity case will be a Hearing listed for 4 or more days. High complexity cases will also include preparation and attendance at Tribunal whether by ourselves or by Counsel. Preparation and attendance is based on a hourly rate of £250 plus VAT per hour. VAT is charged at 20%.
Prices are also based on the number of witnesses that a respondent may need to call to give evidence.

Conveyancing

Sale / Purchase Fees

SALE/PURCHASE PRICE (£)	ESTIMATED LEGAL FEES PLUS VAT (£)
£0 - £200,000	£1095 (£1,314 including VAT)
£200,001 - £300,000	£1225 (£1,470 including VAT)
£300,001 - £400,000	£1375 (£1,650 including VAT)
£400,001 - £500,000	£1425 (£1,710 including VAT)
£500,001 - £600,000	£1575 (£1,890 including VAT)
£600,001 - £700,000	£1625 (£1,950 including VAT)
£700,001 - £800,000	£1875 (£2,250 including VAT)
£800,001 - £900,000	£2125 (£2,550 including VAT)
£900,001 - £999,999	£2875 (£3,450 including VAT)
£1,000,000 +	SUBJECT TO QUOTATION

OTHER MATTERS
Lease Extension £1100 - £1300 plus VAT (£1,320 to £1,560 including VAT)
Equity Release £850 plus VAT (£1,020 including VAT)
Equity Release (advice only) £150 plus VAT (£180 including VAT)
Re-mortgage £650 plus VAT (£780 including VAT)
Transfer of Equity minimum £600 plus VAT (£720 including VAT) subject to needs of each individual matter

COMMERCIAL
Lease Assignment £1200 - £1500 plus VAT (£1,440 to £1,800 including VAT)
New Lease £1500 - £2000 plus VAT (£1,800 to £2,400 including VAT)

Our fees include all the key stages listed below.

Key Stages

Sale

1. Negotiation of sale via an Estate Agent.
2. Instruct us to act on your sale.
3. Provision of suitiable ID and proof of address, make payment on account of disbursements if required.
4. Complete property questionnaire and fixture/fitting list and supply all deeds and documents to us.
5. Your conveyancer will obtain copies of Land Registry entries and any documents not suplied by Land Registry.
6. Contract package prepared and sent to the buyers conveyancer.
7. Replies made to additional enquiries.
8. Replies made to any further additional enquiries.
9. Arrangements made to sign contracts and transfer documents.
10. Completion date agreed and confirmation sought that all links in the chain are ready to exchange.
11. Contract exchanged.
12. Agents account final statement of amount required to pay off mortgage requested
13. Confirm transfer documents signed and witnessed.
14. Completion.

Purchase

1. Negotiation of sale via an Estate Agent.
2. Instruct us to act on your sale.
3. Mortgage application made.
4. Contract pack recieved, local authority and other searches made, additional enquiries raised, initial report to client with fittings and contents list to check, transfer deed prepared and sent to sellers conveyancer.
5. Replies to additional enquiries and search results recieved, checked and title approved, or further additional enquiries made.
6. Contract, mortgage deed and other paperwork prepared, and arrangements made to sign. Payment of the deposit arranged.
7. Paperwork signed and deposit paid.
8. Completion date agreed. Confirmation sought that all links in the chain are ready to exhchange.
9. Contract exchanged.
10. Certificate of title sent to lender with request for mortgage advance. Balance of purchase money and fees requested.
11. Final Land Registry and bankruptcy search is made.
12. Mortgage advance and balance of purchase money recieved. All final searches clear.
13. Completion.

Timeframe
The usual conveyancing timeline is between 6 to 8 weeks to exchange of contracts. However, much will depend on the length of the chain and the parties involved. For instance, it will take longer to communicate through a long chain and there may be properties within the chain where a Grant of Probate may be needed. We can only go as fast as the slowest person in the chain.

Breach of Contract to recover monies owed (Debts)

Debt Amount:	Legal costs/Our fees:	VAT:	Total including VAT:
*£5,000 - £10,000	£4,000 - £6,000	£800 - £1,200	£4,800 - £7,200
£10,000 - £25,000	£10,000 - £15,000	£2,000 - £3,000	£12,000 - £18,000
£25,000 +	£20,000 - £30,000	£4,000 - £6,000	£24,000 - £36,000

*Any claim less than £5,000 will be subject to quotation.
VAT is charged at the rate of 20%

We are happy to discuss other fee arrangements directly with you, such arrangements can include fixed fee prices for drafting and advice on an hourly rate basis.

Disbursements:

Barristers fees may be payable in addition, barristers fees are usually between £1,000 to £3,000 per day (£1,200 to £3,600 including VAT). The barrister’s fees are normally payable in two parts – a ‘brief’ fee for preparation and dealing with the first day of the case, and then a ‘refresher’ fee for each subsequent day that the barrister needs to attend. The brief fee is generally between 1.5 and 3 times the refresher rate. The daily rates we have provided are an aggregate of brief and refresher fees taking into account our experience of both the fees normally charged and the average length of hearings.

Court fees for Civil claims depend upon the value of the claim. No VAT is payable on court fees. Below are the current court fees (taken from gov.uk, correct as of March 2024)

Value of your claim:	Fee:
Up to £300	£35
More than £300 but no more than £500	£50
More than £500 but no more than £1,000	£70
More than £1,000 but no more than £1,500	£80
More than £1,500 but no more than £3,000	£115
More than £3,000 but no more than £5,000	£205
More than £5,000 but no more than £10,000	£455
More than £10,000 but no more than £200,000	5% value of the claim
More than £200,000	£10,000

What do our costs include?

Our costs include the key stages listed below.

Key Stages

Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on the initial merits and likely compensation (this will be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)
Preparing the claim form or defence form
Reviewing and advising on claim or defence from other party
Preparing or considering a schedule of loss and/or counter schedule of loss
Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing
Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents (called disclosure)
Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
Preparing bundle of documents for use at court
Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
Agreeing a case summary, a chronology and/or cast list
Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to the barrister

Timescales:

The timescale can vary and will depend on the courts avalibility but we anticpate a case to take between 6 to 8 months for small and intermediate claims, however fast track and multi track cases can take between 12 to 18 months.