Wills, trusts and probate costs

We appreciate how important it is to have an idea of how much our specialist legal services may cost before you go further. On this page, you’ll find our fixed fee packages for certain services and some examples of our fees for services that will ultimately be determined by your particular circumstances.

Visit our Wills, trusts, probate and estates page for full details of the services we offer.

The cost of making a Will, setting up a Trust or dealing with Probate can often depend on the complexity of your circumstances and the level of assistance you require from Clarke Willmott.

We offer fixed pricing packages for some services, such as drafting a Lasting Power of Attorney so it’s always worth contacting us to discuss how best we can meet your requirements and budget.

We can also advise you about other third party fees that you should consider, such as Probate Court fees.

If you’d like a more detailed estimate of costs, please contact us.

What are the fees for setting up a trust?

This will depend on the type of trust and what you are putting in it:

• Typically, a bare trust holding cash will be around £1,400 plus VAT to set up.
• A lifetime discretionary trust or life interest trust designed to hold cash or investments will cost around £4,400 plus VAT to set up including our estate planning advice, the trust and letter of wishes, IHT reporting and trust registration with HMRC
• A personal injury trust to protect the award of a successful claim will cost £3,200 plus VAT. This fee comprises £1200 plus VAT for a report to assess which type of trust best suits your needs and a cost benefit analysis concerning the preparation of the trust documentation itself, if we are instructed to draft the trust then our fees will be £1,400 plus VAT for the documents and £600 for registering the trust with HMRC.

In addition, you may need help with transferring the assets into the trust, setting up bank accounts, inheritance tax returns and capital gains tax holdover claims. Fees for these services will be payable on top.

How much will it cost for Clarke Willmott to act as executor or trustee?

When the Clarke Willmott Trust Corporation Limited is appointed to act as professional executor or trustee either solely or alongside a family member the corporation makes no charge for the responsibility it is undertaking. However, Clarke Willmott as a firm will charge for the time involved in team members dealing with the estate or trust administration in exactly the same way that it would charge family executors or trustees.

How much does it cost to make a Will?

The fees for making a Will can range from £1080 (inc VAT) for a single, simple will to more than £5,500 (inc VAT) for a pair of complex Wills, created to protect various assets and save inheritance tax.

The value you receive is in the advice and security of protecting your family wealth for future generations. Having met with you initially, and discovered what is important to, you we will advise you on a range of options and the fixed fee costs for each so that you are fully informed before you instruct us. We do not charge for an initial meeting at our offices or by video, so if you decide not to proceed, you will leave us better informed but not out of pocket.

How much does it cost to make a Lasting Power of Attorney?

Our fixed fee packages will give you certainty on cost. These fees include the registration of the Lasting Power of Attorney, which means it will be available for use when needed. Our packages are:

• A single Property and Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney document – £862 inc VAT (which includes a £780 solicitor’s fee and £82 Court fees)
• A pair of similar Property and Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney documents – £1,484 inc VAT (which includes a £1,320 solicitor’s fee and £164 Court fees)
• A pair of similar Property and Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney documents PLUS a pair of similar Health and Welfare Lasting Powers of Attorney documents – £2488 inc VAT (which includes a £2160 solicitor’s fee and £328 Court fees)

How much does is cost to register an Enduring Power of Attorney?

The fee for registering an Enduring Power of Attorney, following loss of capacity, is £982 inc VAT (which includes a £900 solicitor’s fee and £82 Court fees). Registration takes approximately three months, so it is wise to start the process as soon as a loss of capacity begins.

How much are Probate Court fees?

If the value of an estate exceeds £5000, the Probate court fee is £273 per application.

Extra copies of the Grant of Probate can be purchased for £1.50 each.

How much does it cost to apply for probate?

Grant only service

If you would prefer to carry out some of the work yourself but want the certainty that the important application for the Grant of Probate (or Grant of Letters of Administration) has been professionally dealt with, then we offer a ‘Grant Only Service’. You gather the information and evidence of values as at the date of death and, once the Grant is issued by the Court, you carry on with the estate administration. If you need any more help from us with the estate we can help as additional work/fees. We only offer our Grant Only Service where there is no IHT due.

Our Grant only fees are:

• For simpler estates our fees including VAT and court fees from £3273.
• For other estates where an IHT400 is needed our fees including VAT and court fees are from £4473.

Please contact us to discuss what is included in this service. Court fees are accurate as at October 2022.

Full estate administration service

Our full estate administration service will provide you with expertise throughout the entire Probate process. This could include:

• Providing initial advice
• Gathering the necessary evidence needed for the Probate application
• Applying for the Grant of Representation
• Collecting in the estate assets
• Paying tax, liabilities and legacies
• Dealing with HMRC negotiations
• Preparation of full estate accounts and tax returns
• Distributing the residue of the estate to the entitled beneficiaries.

Our fees for this will vary depending upon the terms of the Will (or if the deceased died intestate), the size and complexity of the estate and the type of assets involved.

As a guide, the fees for full estate administration will typically start from £4,500 – £6,500 plus VAT for a very straightforward estate whilst fees for complex estates can exceed £50,000 plus VAT.

Costs can be reduced considerably if family members are prepared to help with the non-legal tasks such as clearing personal items, meeting with estate agents and transferring utilities. These aspects can often be time-consuming but do not usually require our expertise.

Before undertaking any work, we will meet with you to review the Will and discuss the estate. We will then give you a fee estimate – which is a range of costs that we believe we could incur when dealing with the estate. We will also give you a fixed fee alternative. If you chose a fixed fee option you’ll know exactly how much the estate administration will cost. However Probate Court fees and the costs of selling property are payable in addition to our fees.

You can find more information about probate costs in our Crystal Clear Pricing Guide.

Will I qualify for Legal Aid?

Unfortunately the costs of Wills, Probate, trusts and Lasting Power of Attorney do not qualify for Legal Aid.

Contact a Wills and Probate solicitor

If you have a question about our fees or costs contact one of our specialist Wills solicitors on 0800 652 8025 or contact us online.