We can help you with:
- Making a will
- Lasting or ordinary Powers of Attorney
- Probate applications
Why should I make a will?
- If you want to decide who inherits your property
- If you wish to appoint guardians to look after your children
- If you prefer to minimise your inheritance tax liability
- If you want to control the age that youngsters inherit your property
- If you want to provide for a spouse or partner
then you need to make a will. The law sets out particular rules about which family members are entitled to receive your property if you do not make a will, and these rules may not give the results that you expect. Making a will and directing how your property is distributed will avoid such problems.
How do I make a will?
Contact me, Stephen Gadd TEP at gilliangadd@btinternet.com or phone me on 01293 553434 to make an appointment. Normally I will send you a client will questionnaire to complete. We will then meet up at our Horsham or Crawley office, and a draft document will then be sent to you.
Stephen holds the prestigious STEP Advanced Certificate in Will Preparation (Cert AWP accreditation) and has over 35 years’ experience in will writing, obtaining probate and estate administration.
How much will it cost me?
Our standard fee for making a will is around £225 for a single will and £395 for a married couple.
Powers of attorney
For a person who is worried about who will look after their affairs for them if they cannot do so by themselves or for family members who have a relative who is becoming infirm, I can prepare a Lasting Power of Attorney, which gives one or more people the power to deal with your financial affairs on your behalf, subject to whatever limitations or restrictions that you impose. I can also prepare a different Lasting Power of Attorney, by which you can appoint one or more people to make decisions for you about your health, care and welfare if you become unable to do this yourself.
How much will it cost me?
Our standard fee for preparing and registering a Lasting power of Attorney is from £450 for both powers of attorney for an individual and £695 for a married couple.
Contact me, Stephen Gadd, on 01403 262520 or 01293 553434 or at gilliangadd@btinternet.com or at gillian@gilliangadd.com
How much will it cost me?
Probate costs
The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter.
We will handle the full process of preparation of IHT400 and schedules for the Capital Tax Office and the separate application to the HMCTS for probate for you.
Fees between £995 and £1,495 can be anticipated in matters where:-
There is a valid will
There is no inheritance tax payable and the executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC
There are no claims made against the estate
Disbursements in addition to our fees can include:
Probate application fee of approximately £280
Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary)
How long will this take?
Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 4-18 weeks. The application is made on line direct to the Court and monitored via our linked case management system. You will be kept updated as to the progress of the application.
As part of our probate service we will:
Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor to work on your matter
Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators
Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require
Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application
Complete the Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms
Draft a legal statement for you to sign
Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf
Obtain the Probate and send office copies to you
Please note that from 31/03/2023 we no longer deal with estate administration or hold money on behalf of executors.
