What can solicitors charge for assisting with estate administrations
Written by Kearney Coffin | Wills, Trusts, tax and Probate team | 5 February 2025
When you pass away, the person or people you have named as executors in your Will are entitled to administer (deal with) your estate.
Executors can ask solicitors to help with the estate administration, or sometimes solicitors are named as professional executors in a Will. As solicitors fees are generally payable from the estate, it is important to understand what fees solicitors can charge for their work.
Professional Executors vs Lay Executors
Choosing the right executors to administer your estate is an important decision. As more estates become chargeable to Inheritance Tax, ensuring you are not paying avoidable additional fees will help to limit the deductions to the inheritance you leave.
For some, having professional executors such as a solicitor or accountant gives peace of mind that your estate will be dealt with correctly. Solicitors appointed as professional executors will charge fees for acting in the estate administration, which will be paid from your estate and ultimately reduce the amount inherited by your beneficiaries.
Even if you have lay executors (non-professional executors) named in your Will, they can still instruct a solicitor to assist in administering your estate with the fees payable from your estate.
How are hourly rate fees calculated?
Most solicitor firms will charge fees on the basis of their ‘time spent’, which means their fees reflect the amount of time spent working on the file (on the basis of hourly rate charges).
We’d strongly recommend you have your Will reviewed often. Click below to find out more.
How are value element fees calculated?
Some firms will also charge a ‘value element’ on top of the time spent fees, such 1% + VAT on the gross estate less the value of the residence and 0.5% + VAT on the value of the residence.
If a solicitor is named as executor this could be even higher, typically this can be 1.5% on the gross estate less the value of the residence and then a further 0.75% + VAT on the residence. It is not yet clear if this will include value of pensions once the rules change in 2027.
As an example, for an estate with a £300,000 property and £200,000 other assets, you would be looking at an additional bill of £5,250 + VAT in costs for their professional assistance, on top of the hourly rates.
Why instruct Nash & Co Solicitors?
At Nash and Co Solicitors, we are proud to be transparent and charge fees for time spent only and we do not charge a value element.
We believe that an estate should only be charged for time spent working on that administration and do not charge a value element even where our firm is appointed as professional executors
If you would like assistance with an estate, or in light of the above would like to put in place a new Will with different executors, our private client team are ready to help you consider your options and assist with estate administrations. When you call us, you’ll be able to speak to one of our qualified and experienced lawyers immediately.
If you’d like to speak to the team and get their help, please contact us by calling 01752 827067 or emailing enquiries@nash.co.uk
