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What is a probate Plan?

When you die most families normally use a solicitor to wind up and distribute your estate. This is called Probate in England and wales, and Executry in Scotland. Many clients feel it is too expensive and takes too long. A probate plan means you fix this cost in advance and your family has nothing to pay when you die.

Affects estates valued over £5,000

Usually done by bank or solicitor

Costs up to
4% + vat of value of the estate

Costs more for complex estates

Simple, affordable and fixed fee

Why get a probate Plan?

Probate can be seen as stressful and upsetting in a time of sadness especially if it’s a family member undertaking the process. They may be overwhelmed and worry about having the knowledge and time to do it. Our prepaid probate plans are simple, affordable and fixed fee.

Prepaid benefits

  • The cost is fixed so you know you won’t have increasing prices to worry about.
  • No future costs so your family has nothing to pay when you die.
  • Stress free for your family and loved ones.

What is included in your Prepaid Probate Plan:

Your Probate Plan may require your Estate and or beneficiaries to pay additional fees as disbursements or professional fees for services required outside of but essential to the completion of your Probate, some of which are, inter alia, set out below:

Included

  • Identifying, valuing and managing your assets.
  • Preparing the necessary documentation for the application of probate.
  • Applying and obtaining the appropriate probate from the courts.
  • Ensuring accurate distribution of your estate.
  • Corresponding with HMRC to complete Income Tax, Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax returns and making any necessary corrections that are required, including arranging for any Nil Rate Band Allowance to be transferred.
  • Identifying any relevant reliefs or exemptions to the estate before calculating any tax owed.
  • Liaising with the appropriate organisations, financial institutions and beneficiaries of the estate throughout the process.
  • Ensuring any debts and liabilities are paid from the estate.
  • Preparing the accounts and distributing the estate to the beneficiaries.
  • Dedicated probate lawyer.
  • Basic professional Will written by an IPW Will Writer.
  • Your fees are securely placed in an independent trust fund.

Prepaid Probate FAQ's

Why do I need probate?

Probate allows the Executors in a Will to settle the estate. This means that once any debts and Inheritance Tax are paid the estate can be settled between the beneficiaries. If probate is not undertaken the assets are frozen and beneficiaries will not receive their inheritance.

Most estates typically take around 6 to 9 months for beneficiaries to receive their inheritance. It can be shorter on a small estate with no property and significantly longer on complex estates or where no Will is in place, known as dying intestate.
The probate registry fee needs to be paid up front in order to obtain the grant of probate. The Executor usually pays it, this along with any other fees and debts can be reimbursed from the estate. All debts should be reimbursed prior to assets being distributed to ensure the Executor does not end up footing the bill for probate.
If you take out a prepaid probate plan with us, you pay a single fixed fee for the process of obtaining the grant of probate and the administration of your estate. The current probate application fee is £155 if made by a solicitor or £215 if made by an individual. This is paid out of the estate by the executors of the Will. It is paid as an up front disbursement fee at the time of sending the application for the grant of probate, but reimbursed out of the estate funds once they are ready to distribute. All disbursements are paid out of the estate. Most banks offer probate and estate administration services at the time of death. These are usually charged on a percentage of the estate value and can be significantly higher.
There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, we get some elderly applicants who wish to proceed to purchase from us, but they have lower estate values. Because our pricing is based on age, with lower estate values, it is cheeper to use a solicitor charging a percentage of the estate. In these circumstances we are unhappy taking payment where it would be cheaper to proceed elsewhere. Secondly, if we know the value of your estate, we can give you a direct comparison of what a typical solicits cost would be against our age related fixed cost. You can then see just how competitive our fees are. Finally, if we spot that you have an inheritance tax problem, we do not want your beneficiaries to end up paying 40% tax unnecessarily. With your consent, we would introduce you to a fabulous firm who have some great IHT solutions.
Yes, you can do probate yourself. You will be responsible for all the paperwork which includes legal, financial and tax. You will also be responsible for administering the estate and ensuring beneficiaries receive according to the Will. Some people find it too time-consuming and complex so seek assistance from probate specialists.
We can re-write a simple Will naming our professional Executors, at our expense. They will be contacted at the time and will take over probate. If you do already have a Will in place please discuss this with our experts and we'll advise you individually.
The government announced there would be changes to probate fees, with some seeing a large hike. However, the changes have been delayed with no future date in place for review. Correct as of April 2020.
Whilst the job of obtaining a grant of probate is time consuming and complex, our probate specialists are super efficient. But the trick is to be completely organised in advance. To start the probate process, we need the will, all account numbers for savings, banks, insurances, utilities, lists of all assets, contact details of executors and beneficiaries and numerous other things. We make it easy for you to store/supply all these things, which saves weeks off the usual time it takes your loved ones to discover all this information. Getting all this info ahead of death makes sure that no assets are lost or forgotten and if things need to be done to simplify matters, there is the time to do it whist you are here. In reality, the whole probate industry has been over charging for far too long. You just do not need to be paying a solicitor £250-£300 per hour (including VAT) or paying a percentage of the value of your estate. The bulk of the work is simply administration, with the specialist legal and accountancy part only accounting for a small amount of time. Our professional probate practitioners can read and understand even the most complex of wills. They are familiar with all the difficult HMRC and court application forms as well as being experienced in managing the expectations of the most demanding of beneficiaries.
Funds are held by independent trustees until the grant of probate is needed. We nominate a professional probate practitioner from the outset to your case and you are notified of which firm has been nominated. However if the firm ceases to trade, you don’t need to worry. The trustees have complete power to appoint your case to a different probate lawyer.

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