Wills

A Will is a formal legal document which outlines how a person’s assets are to be distributed after their death and specifies care arrangements for any young children.

Making a Will is essential if you wish to protect your assets for your family and to ensure that decisions affecting your loved ones are made by you and not by the Courts or the local Council.

Our fee includes meeting with you to discuss and explain all the relevant issues, preparing the Will, arranging for the Will to be signed and witnessed, then providing a copy for you and secure storage of the original (if desired).

Basic Will: £175 plus VAT

Twin set of Wills suitable for spouses / partners: £250 plus VAT

Very occasionally a Will request can be particularly complex. In such instances it may be necessary to make an additional charge. In the event that your Will request is particularly complex please be assured that we will notify you before the work is carried out so you can decide how you wish to proceed.

Lasting Powers of Attorney

A ‘Lasting Power of Attorney’ (LPA) is a legal document which lets you appoint someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf in the event that you become mentally incapacitated.

There are two types of LPA: Property & Financial Affairs: which allows you to appoint someone to manage your property and financial affairs. Personal Welfare: which allows you to appoint someone to make decisions about your personal welfare and healthcare.

For an LPA to take effect it has to be formally ‘registered’ with the ‘Office of the Public Guardian’. When registering a LPA, a Court Fee (currently £82.00) is payable. However, depending upon your financial situation, it is sometimes possible to reduce – or even completely avoid – this fee. As part of our service we will advise whether you can claim a fee reduction and, if so, help you to complete the appropriate claim forms. This is the reason that Court fees are excluded from our LPA price list (see below).

Our fee includes meeting with you to discuss and explain the relevant issues, preparing and, where possible, certifying the LPA. Then arranging for the LPA to be signed and witnessed. Carrying out all the necessary Court applications / notifications up to and including the final production / registration of the LPA. Then providing a number of legally certified copies of the LPA to send out to relevant organisations and providing secure storage of the original (if desired).

Registered LPAs

	Individual	Couple
Property & Financial Affairs	£250 (excluding £82 Court fee)	£400 (excluding £164 Court fee)
Personal Welfare	£250 (excluding £82 Court fee)	£400 (excluding £164 Court fee)
Combined (Property & Personal)	£500 (excluding £164 Court fee)	£800 (excluding £328 Court fee)

Fixed quotations for unregistered LPAs are available on request.

Registration of Enduring Powers of Attorney

‘Enduring Powers of Attorney’ (EPAs) were replaced by LPAs in 2007 so it is no longer possible to draw up a new EPA. However, pre-existing EPAs are still legal in the event of their originator becoming mentally incapacitated – but only if they are first ‘registered’ with the ‘Office of the Public Guardian’.

As with LPAs, depending upon your financial situation, it is sometimes possible to reduce - or even completely avoid - the Registration Court Fee (see above) which is why it is excluded from our price list.

Our fee includes meeting with you to discuss and explain the relevant issues, completing and submitting the appropriate registration forms, notifying close relatives and paying the Court Fee. Then providing you with a number of legally certified copies of the EPA to send out to relevant organisations and providing secure storage of the original (if desired).

Registration of EPA: £300 (excluding £82 Court fee)

Very occasionally some LPA or EPA registrations are particularly complex or contested. In such instances it may be necessary to make an additional charge. In the event that your request is particularly complex please be assured that we will notify you at the onset, before the work is carried, out so you can decide how you wish to proceed.

Probate / Letters of Administration

When a person dies formal permission is (generally) required for relatives or friends to have the legal authority to deal with the deceased person’s ‘estate’. ‘A Grant of Representation’ is the term for this permission and encompasses either a ‘Grant of Probate’ (which recognizes the legal validity of a Will) or a ‘Grant of Letters of Administration’ (which provides authority where no Will exists).

The amount of work involved in obtaining a Grant of Representation will vary according to the nature of the deceased person’s estate. A basic rule of thumb is that… if the value of estate is under the Inheritance Tax (‘IHT’) threshold (currently £325,000) or the estate passes to a spouse or charity (and is valued at less than £1,000,000) …then it will be more straightforward as it is subject only to a ‘simple tax declaration’. Estates above this amount generally require a ‘full tax account’ and are as a result more complex. Being a rule of thumb of course, there are some exceptions (!) but, in general, this principle is a useful guide.

Our fee includes meeting with you to discuss and explain the relevant issues. Then completing the appropriate tax declarations, preparing a sworn oath for executors or administrators, submitting the Grant application (potentially saving you a trip to the Probate Registry) and paying the Probate Court Fee (cheaper for a solicitor than a private individual). Then providing you with a number of legally certified copies for you to send out to relevant organisations and providing secure storage of the original (if desired).

Grant for estates involving a Simple Tax Declaration: £480

(excluding £155 Court fee + any other external provider expenses that may be incurred e.g. Official copy fees, expert’s valuation fees etc.)

Grant for estates requiring a Full Tax Account: £1,200

(excluding £155 Court fee + any other external provider expenses that may be incurred e.g. expert’s valuation fees)

Very occasionally some Grant applications are particularly complex. In such instances it may be necessary to make an additional charge. In the event that your application is particularly complex please be assured that we will notify you at the onset, before the work is carried, out so you can decide how you wish to proceed.

Fixed fee products (wills, probate, tax and trusts)

Please note all prices quoted are exclusive of VAT.

This department is led by Omair Hussain. He is a Solicitor specialising in private client and commercial  work. Together with the team, he will be able to guide you through the process and offer you the most effective solutions

Who will carry out the work

• Director assisted by Solicitor 
• Solicitor assisted by a paralegal
• All work is supervised by a Director