PROBATE SERVICES

Our sister company Fusion Probate Ltd is authorised and approved by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to provide Probate Services – an area regulated by the Legal Services Act.

This means we are able to manage and deal with your probate, inheritance tax and the administration of estates while ensuring that tax efficiency is at the heart of what we do.

For many families this process is considered very challenging at a difficult time and having professional help can ensure it is dealt with rapidly and tax savings are maximised.

We can agree a fixed fee or on an hourly rate for most estates meaning that families can be comfortable that they are only paying for the services they need. Many of our clients deal with the basic administrative matters themselves meaning a substantial saving in comparison to using law firms who often insist on providing all services in house at a substantial cost to the estate. 

As an example we can assist with any of the below services and more: 

• Completion of Probate forms
• Preparation of Inheritance tax calculations
• Completion of Inheritance tax forms
• Application for the grant
• Negotiation with HMRC
• Guidance in respect of estate administration
• Collection and distribution of estate assets
• Preparation of estate accounts 
• Dealing and advising in respect of trusts and variations

A simple probate application may cost as little as £1,500-£2,500 where there is no inheritance tax due and the executors are able to deal with the administration of the estate. More complex estates may be more expensive and we would expect estates where inheritance tax is payable to cost between £3,500 – £5,000 to deal with the inheritance tax and probate application.

We can also assist with adminstration of the estate and the costs of doing so will depend on the complexity of the estate in question. This is likely to be an additional cost which we will agree on a time cost basis or on a fixed fee arrangement. 

Probate can be a complex process, but probate can often be achieved within a few months, although more complex estates with IHT to pay may take 4-6 months and where there are tax disputes this can take longer. 

We are authorised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to carry out the reserved legal activity of non-contentious probate in England and Wales. We carry £1,000,000 in professional indemnity insurance a copy of which which is available on request. In the unlikely event that we cannot meet our liabilities to you, you may be able to seek a grant from ICAEW’s compensation Scheme. Generally, applications for a grant must be made to ICAEW within 12 months of the time you become aware, or reasonably ought to have been aware of the loss. Further information about the scheme and the circumstances in which grants maybe made is available on ICAEW’s website: www.icaew.com/probate.

If you have any issues with our service we have an internal complaints proceedure, details of which can be found in your engagement letter. In the event that you are unsatisfied with the outcome of any internal complaints procedure you may make a complaint to the ICAEW (How to make a complaint | ICAEW) and/or the Legal Ombudsman (Bring your complaint to us | Legal Ombudsman). 

Details of our probate accreditation can be viewed at icaew.com/probate under reference number C008568662.

Accredited probate firm name: Fusion Probate Ltd
Number of offices carrying out probate work 1
Trading name/s 0
Number of principals 1
Number of authorised individuals (employees) 0
Number of affiliate principals 1

In line with the regulations we undertake an annual Probate Diversity Review, the results of which can be found here: Probate Diversity Review – Fusion (fusionpartners.co.uk)

Our privacy notice setting out our approach to handling your information is available at http://fusionpartners.co.uk/privacy/