Case study: Full probate administration (estate value £297k)

Key Facts

Rix & Kay Service: Full probate administration
Value of Estate: £297,000 (under Inheritance Tax threshold)
Make up of Estate: Cash in bank accounts, limited personal possessions
Beneficiaries: Adult children,  local charity

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Background

(In this example we have changed some details to protect confidentiality)

Mrs A died having made a will in which she appointed her son, Mr B, and her daughter, Mrs C, as her executors. Mrs A left a legacy of £5,000 to a local charity and the rest of her estate to be split equally between Mr B and Mrs C.

At the date of her death, Mrs A was living in a nursing home and her flat had been sold some time before. She had approximately £210,000 cash in one bank, £90,000 in another and £500 NS&I Premium Bonds. There were only a few possessions of negligible value in her nursing home room. Mr B and Mrs C had arranged the funeral the cost of which was £3,100. She had no other liabilities. Therefore the total net value of Mrs A’s estate was valued at just over £297,000 which was below the Inheritance Tax threshold of £325,000.

Mr B and Mrs C instructed us on a ‘full administration’ basis. At the initial meeting they provided us with some old bank statements for each of the bank accounts, an old prize slip for the premium bonds and a copy of the funeral account. Mrs C confirmed that she had already settled the funeral account and notified the Department of Work and Pensions that her mother had died.

The executors chose not to publish statutory advertisements for creditors as they were confident that they were fully aware of any potential claims against the estate. As they were both executors and beneficiaries they would take the risk of personal liability in the very unlikely event of claims being made against the estate.

Outline of Rix & Kay’s service

We wrote to both of the banks and to NS&I notifying them of Mrs A’s death and obtained date of death balances. Once we had received this information we prepared all of the necessary paperwork and applied for a grant of probate. After we received the grant of probate we encashed the bank accounts and premium bonds. We wrote to the charity and informed them of their legacy and then paid this to them. We reimbursed Mrs C for the funeral account and paid out the balance equally to Mr B and Mrs C. We also prepared estate accounts recording all financial transactions.

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Timings

We applied for the grant within two months of the initial meeting and completed the administration within two months of obtaining the grant. Therefore from the initial meeting the entire process took approximately four months.

Fees

Our fees and disbursements were as follows:

• Our fees: £3,500; VAT @ 20%: £700
• Fees for swearing the executors’ oath: £14
• Probate Registry fees to include four copies of the grant: £157
• Total: £4,371

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