The legal work on your matter will be conducted by David Kitcat. David obtained his BA LLB degree at Rhodes University in South Africa in 1993. He then travelled to England and in 1998 converted his South African degree to the English equivalent by completing the Common Professional Exam. In 1999 he completed the Legal Practice Course and then served a two year training contract with the firm of Pettman Smith in Knightsbridge. From 2001 to 2007 he worked at Hayes+Storr Solicitors in Norfolk before moving to Worcestershire. From 2007 and 2014 he worked with March & Edwards (later Stallard March & Edwards). From 2014 to 2016 he was a partner at Paytons Solicitors in Malvern. In 2017 he set up Kitcat & Co Solicitors.
David has had 25 years experience in the field of wills, probate, trusts and powers of attorney. In any one year he will draft close to 200 wills, 50 Lasting Powers of Attorney and deal with up to 40 probate matters.
All prices below include VAT so will be the total amount charged on our invoices. Please give us a call on 01684 342173 or email David at dk@kitcat.legal if you have any questions, or for a quote for any work not listed below.
Cost to make a will:
£360 for a single will
£540 for a pair of mirror wills
£240 Codicil (existing will clients only, new clients should be dealt with as new will matters)
Complex Wills including discretionary or property trusts:
£540 for a single will
£960 for a pair of mirror wills
To prepare and register lasting powers of attorney (LPAs):
£480 for a single LPA but where we are drafting more than one document for a client or for a couple then the overlap means that we can offer a discount to our fee so the charge for two LPAs is £840 and for four is £1,440 plus an £92 registration fee for the Office of the Public Guardian per document.
To register an existing enduring power of attorney (EPA) if the donor has lost their mental capacity:
£600 plus an £92 registration fee for the Office of the Public Guardian
For a certified copy of a power of attorney
The Office of the Public Guardian charge £35 per certified copy of an LPA and £25 per certified copy of an EPA and we will charge £42 for additional copies after the first free copy we provide for each LPA that we have prepared. Regrettably, we will not certify copies of LPA’s that we have not prepared. Please apply to the Office of the Public Guardian for these.
Deputyship application
We regret that we are no longer able to assist with Deputyship applications.
Probate disbursements
Probate Fee: There is a fee charged by the Probate Registry of £526 and £2 per sealed copy of the grant.
Swearing oaths and statutory declarations: There is a statutory charge of £6 for the oath or declaration and £2.40 for any extra document that has to be marked.
Personal Representative’s Advertisement: It is advisable for the personal representatives to place an advert in the local press and the London Gazette for the creditors of the deceased to come forward within two months of the notice. This usually costs between £190 and £220.
Deed of Variation £720.
Deed of Appointment £720.
Deed of Renunciation £480.
To obtain the grant of probate only:
In some cases the personal representatives can deal with most of the work but only need us to obtain the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration. Here the cost will depend on whether or not an HMRC account is needed.
For a Grant without the need for a submission to HMRC the cost is £2,400 plus disbursements.
Where we do need to submit the IHT400 account to HMRC the cost is £6,000 plus disbursements.
Full estate administration:
We will quote a fixed fee specific to the estate. This is usually a maximum of approximately 2% of the value of the estate plus disbursements such as the court fee. It is dependent on the complexity of the assets involved, for example if there are multiple shareholdings or assets overseas, there is going to be far more work involved than if there is just a property in joint names and a couple of bank accounts.
At the start of the matter, we will need you to bring in details of the deceased’s assets and liabilities as well as information like their National Insurance number, their last address and any funeral expenses. We will write to all of the relevant financial and government institutions to establish the precise values of their assets (property, money, investments, insurance policies, etc) and liabilities (credit cards, debts, outstanding bills, care fees, funeral fees, etc) at the date of death. At this stage we can send the funeral account to the deceased’s bank for early settlement. I will use the financial details to prepare the estate accounts and to complete the necessary forms for HM Revenue & Customs. We will also draw up the probate oath and arrange for the swearing of the oath. Once this is done, I will submit all of the paperwork to HMRC and the Probate Registry. On receipt of the grant of representation I will write to all of the institutions to collect in the assets of the estate. Having collected sufficient money in, we will settle any remaining liabilities and look to begin distributing money under the will or intestacy. The deceased’s income tax position will be settled with HMRC. We can also take steps to sell or transfer any property at that stage. Property can be put on the market before the grant is issued, but we can only transfer it once we have the grant. At the end of the process I will provide the executors and the residuary beneficiaries with a complete set of estate accounts to give them a full picture of the estate.
We will discuss the assets and liabilities of the estate at your initial meeting and provide you with a quote for completing the work. If during the course of the administration, it becomes clear that there is more work involved than initially anticipated, we will always discuss this with you before going ahead.
Expert advice:
If you’re looking for some legal advice that doesn’t necessarily fit in with the standard services we offer, then we’re happy to meet you for a fixed fee interview. We charge a flat rate of £360 for a one hour meeting to discuss your concerns and advise accordingly. For example, if somebody close to you has passed away and you have queries about the probate process, we understand that you might not immediately want to commit to instructing a solicitor, and you may not even need to obtain a grant of probate. This service can help by answering your questions in a way that’s easy to understand and will help to ease your stress and worry at this difficult time. After our meeting, which can take place in person or over the telephone, we will summarise our advice in writing by letter or email. If you do wish to instruct us to act for you, at this stage or at a later date, we will deduct the £360 fee from our next invoice.
Trusts
Startup fee: £3,600
This additional fee applies to the first year of our involvement in a trust and covers the additional work involved in establishing the trust framework (in the case of a new trust) or reviewing the existing framework (in the case of an ongoing trust).
Basic trust administration: £600
This rate applies in years where our activity has been limited to monitoring correspondence and providing general advice to co-trustees and beneficiaries.
Intermediate trust administration: £1,800
This rate applies in years where we have to actively manage funds on behalf of the trust or conduct other more specialist levels of work, such as preparing trust tax returns or deeds of retirement and appointment. It also covers situations where the trustees are required to exercise their discretion, but only at the annual trustees meeting.
Advanced trust administration: standard hourly rate
This rate applies to work done in the second and subsequent years of the trust that required the exercise of a trustee’s powers or discretion in respect of matters not agreed at the annual trustee’s meeting. Where it is possible to isolate the additional work generated, only this work will be charged at our hourly rate of £360 – all other work will remain covered by the Intermediate rate fee. However, where it is not possible to distinguish between the usual work and the additional work, the entire year will be charged for on a time basis.