Altering an existing Will (Codicil)
A Codicil is a supplementary legal document to your existing Will which can be used to make amendments to it, without redoing your whole Will. They are commonly used to enable clients to make minor adjustments to their existing Wills, whether this be an amendment to something already written, an additional clause or provision to be included and/or to remove (or revoke) something entirely from your Will as if it was never there.
Common types of alteration may include altering your wishes and assets or changing those you have appointed as Executors & Trustees or Guardians who are appointed as carers for your children under the age of 18 years, because their appointment is no longer appropriate or it could be that they have predeceased you, a capacity issue or lack of communication.
It is crucial that both the Will and the Codicil are kept together in a safe place and inform your Executors and Trustees that you altered the terms of the Will and also, where to find them following your death.
Ordinary Power of Attorney
Where an individual is unable to manage their own affairs, even if it is temporary or permanent, they can choose a person to act on their behalf. This can be done by creating a Power of Attorney. An OPA can only be used if the donor has mental capacity and it becomes temporarily difficult for the Donor to manage their own affairs.
A Power of Attorney can be used to authorise an Attorney to act generally for you or you can be given in relation to specific matters only. An Ordinary Power of Attorney (OPA) is a legal document in which someone (the Donor) gives another person (the Attorney) the right to help them make decisions or take decisions on their behalf. It can also be called a General Power of Attorney. The Donor can limit the Attorney’s powers under an OPA. For example, they can authorise them to only deal with their financial affairs or in relation to a particular transaction. The Donor can also still make decisions for themselves if they wish to do so.
An Ordinary Power of Attorney can be granted under the Trustee Act of 1925 or under the Powers of Attorney Act 1971.
Powers of Attorney, an OPA does not need to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian and can be used as soon as the Donor of the Power signs the Deed.
Our Fees
General Power of Attorney for single person £200.00
Lasting Power of Attorney
An LPA is a legal document which allows an individual (known as the ‘Donor’) to appoint someone else (known as the ‘Attorney’) to make decisions and/or manage their affairs on their behalf. An LPA is a powerful document.
There are 2 types of LPAs:
- LPA – dealing with health and welfare matters of a person, for instance, LPA choses a care given to the Donor, which care home they should be admitted and make a decision on life-sustaining medical treatment
- LPA dealing with property and financial matters of a person, for instance, accessing the Donor’s bank account, making payments such as bills, signing legal documents and etc.
All LPAs must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before you can use them.
Fees
| LPA for single person – 1 type of LPA | £600.00 registration fee £82 per LPA |
| LPA for single person – both types of LPA | £1,200.00 registration fee £82 per LPA |
| LPAs for a couple – both types of LPAs | £2,000.00 registration fee £82 per LPA |
Our additional fees which may be added to our fees:
| Home/Hospital visit | £200 – £350.00 |
| Expedited Service | £200 – £300.00 |
| Letters to third parties i.e. doctor’s statement | £150.00 |
Our Service and Timescales
Your instructions may require two meetings.
- The first meeting entails taking your instructions which includes for instance, who you wish to appoint as your Attorney(s).
- The second meeting involves signing the forms.
We estimate that your matter will take between 1 and 2 weeks from taking your instructions and completing the LPA forms.
The LPA forms are speedily submitted after the second meeting and there is a statutory waiting period of up to 6 weeks by the OPG. Generally, we estimate to have the registered LPA within 2 months of submitting the same.
It is advisory that everyone should have a Will and an LPA in place as both are equally important, for instance a LPA is to cover yourself during your lifetime and a Will after you pass away.
Court of Protection - Deputyship
If you have lost mental capacity through an illness, injury or accident and you do not have an LPA in place, the Deputyship route applies.
In such circumstances, your next of kin or any other relevant individual must apply to become a Deputy of the person who has lost mental capacity (the Donee). This entails completing several forms in detail and applying for a Deputyship Order at the Court of Protection.
There are two types of Deputyship Orders to apply:
- deals with Health and welfare
- deals with property and financial matters.
If the Deputyship Order is granted for property affairs, the Deputy is required to pay in a ‘security bond’. This is a type of insurance that protects the finances of the Donee.
You can instruct us to deal with the above and submit the forms to the Court of Protection on your behalf.
Our Fees
| Deputyship – one type | £1,200.00 |
| Deputyship- both types | £2,000.00 |
| Additional fees which may be added to our fees: | |
| Home/Hospital visit | £200 – £350.00 |
| Expedited Service | £200 – £300.00 |
| Letters to third parties i.e. doctor’s statement | £150.00 |
In addition to our fees stated above, there is a registration fee payable to the Court of Protection which is £365 per Deputyship form.
Probate - Uncontested
Our Service and Timescales
Simple Estate:
The work we do for couple of assets and beneficiaries
- We Estimate the value of the estate after all the bills are paid and identify any issues that there may be before the beneficiaries can be given their entitlements.
- Evaluate the estate for any Inheritance Tax (IHT) due. If any, it has to be paid before we can obtain the Grant of Representation from the Probate Registry.
- Prepare the papers to apply for the Grant.
- Send copies of the Grant to Banks, Building Societies and other Authorities holding money and property.
- Advising on Capital Gains Tax on sale of the property
- Collect in estate money.
- Deal with any outstanding liabilities.
- Prepare estate accounts.
- Distribute assets to the beneficiaries.
Our Fees Our charges are normally based on the value of the estate but we can agree on a fixed fee once we are fully aware of what will be required in each case.
We estimate our fees to be between £2,500 and £5,000 exclusive of third party costs.
We estimate this will take between 6 weeks and 3 months.
Average Estate:
The work we do for at least 4 assets including at least one property and 4 beneficiaries, however our estimated fees to be between £4,000 and £15,000 exclusive of third party costs.
We estimate this will take between 6 weeks and 10 months.
Complex Probate- Obtaining valuation for special and unusual assets The work we do for more than 5 assets and beneficiaries including properties and our firm is the Executor Solicitor, i.e Sole Executor or Joint Executor, our estimated fees to be between £1,500.00 and £18,000.00 exclusive of third party costs.
We estimate this will take between 6 months and 2 years
| Below are our Probate Court Fees: | |
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| Probate Court fees | £155.00 |
| Copies of grant of probate | £5.00 each |
| Oath Swear Fee | £10.00 |
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