Our Fees

Cramp & Mullaney LLP has extensive experience in dealing with residential property on behalf of their clients. We understand that clients have timescales for their transactions and we always do our best to ensure things go smoothly. Clients are kept regularly informed of progress and are informed of the cost of everything from the outset.

Please click here to obtain a quote for your conveyancing needs today.

Costs

At Cramp & Mullaney LLP we only charge for the work done, unlike other firms and organisations that charge a percentage of the value of an estate (a value element) in addition to work done.

There are many ways we can help you. From just obtaining a Grant of Probate (or Grant of Letters of Administration if no will or named Executor), to handling the full process for you.

Grant Only

Just obtaining a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration for you, would mean our retainer is limited to preparing the relevant paperwork to lead to the Grant. All other aspects of the administration will lie with you, including the accuracy of the information you give us.
Our fees for this work depend on several factors, especially whether an estate is liable for inheritance tax, as HMRC require far more detailed information (on their inheritance tax account) in those cases and also some cases that are not taxable. Therefore, our fees need to reflect that as follows:

• Obtaining Grant only (non-taxable estate) – from £1,100- £2200 plus VAT
• Obtaining Grant only (non-taxable estate but completion of detailed inheritance tax account, e.g. if the deceased had an annuity) – from £1,925 – £3850 plus VAT
• Obtaining Grant only (taxable estate) – from £4,600 – £7700 plus VAT

There will also be disbursements of:

• Probate Court fee – £526
• Fee for official copies of the Grant (for you to produce to each asset holder) – £2 each
• Fee for copies of Land Registry documents of £10.20 per property owned or jointly owned.
• Fee for placing notices to creditors should you choose to do this, usually in the region of £300-£400.

As part of this fee we will:

1. Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor or legal executive to work on your matter.
2. Identify the legally appointed Executors or Administrators.
3. Accurately identify the type of probate application you will require.
4. Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application.
5. Complete the probate application and the relevant HMRC forms.
6. Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf.
7. Obtain the probate and send official copies to you.

There can be many aspects in a probate application which cannot always be anticipated and may incur additional costs. The above estimate does NOT cover (but this list is not exhaustive) an estate which includes:

• Foreign property/assets.
• Sourcing funds to pay inheritance tax (or any other taxes). Any tax must be paid from the estate and is not included in our costs.
• Locating Administrators or missing Executors.
• Identifying or contacting any beneficiaries.
• Preparing any affidavits required by HM Probate Registry.
• Any contested estate.

On average, applying for a grant of this nature can take 8 -16 weeks from your instructions (depending on the HMRC requirements), but will depend on how quickly banks and other institutions, respond to request for information.

Full administration

The exact cost of fully administering an estate is dependent on many circumstances. For example, where there is one beneficiary and no property and say one or two bank accounts, the cost will be cheaper than an estate with many beneficiaries and numerous investments. Where we are Executors and need (or are asked to) register a death, make funeral/wake arrangements and carry out insurance property inspections, this can also affect the fee, but, again, will only be based on the work carried out.

In our experience, the size of an estate is often an indication of the work that may be required, although this is not always the case. As a guide, please see below a scale of charges based on the work we carry out in administering an estate dependent on the size and complexity.

Scale of charges

The above ranges are based upon our fee earner’s hourly rates.

*Estates of this size do not always require probate but other action may be needed including making funeral arrangements

Disbursements (i.e. costs payable to third parties) are in addition to these fees and include:

In handling the full administration for you, this can include:

1. Obtaining the valuation of all assets.
2. Drafting the forms required by HMRC and calculation the inheritance tax where applicable.
3. Sourcing payment of the inheritance tax.
4. Applying for the grant.
5. Upon receipt of the grant, collecting in assets and if applicable, arranging an estate agent to carry out all marketing and sell property (but not including conveyancing costs).
6. Liaising with HMRC re Inheritance tax, Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax (any tax payable must be paid from the estate and is not included in our costs).
7. Identifying and notifying all beneficiaries and carrying out bankruptcy searches.
8. Preparing estate accounts.
9. Accounting and distributing estate to beneficiaries.

These fees assume that: –

• The estate is wholly in the UK.
• There is a valid will or easily identifiable beneficiaries under an intestacy (an intestacy being where there is no will or all the beneficiaries in a person’s will have died before them).
• There is no one contesting the estate, the will or the division of assets.
• Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax calculations are straightforward and do not require accountant’s input.

The time this takes can vary considerably. A lot of factors need to be taken into account, such as selling a property. Also, an Executor may be advised to wait 6 months from the date of the grant (NOT the date of death) before making any distribution. This is to give the Executor the protections of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975 under which potential claimants have 6 months from the date of the grant to make a claim.

Therefore, it often can take between 6 to 18 months (or longer) for an estate to be finalised, but usually will be between 9 and 15 months. This will always, however, depend on how quickly other parties respond to our queries.

Although not included in the above fees, there are other aspects which we can help you with.

Potential additional costs

If there is no will, or any missing beneficiaries, a large share or property portfolio or foreign property, there are likely to be significant additional costs which could affect the estate. We can give you a more accurate idea of costs once we have more information.
Of course, we can help you to whatever extent you would like us to. For example, we can just obtain the grant for you, but then also assist in distributing to beneficiaries. Our assistance can be tailored to your needs and we could discuss with you our fees, once we know your precise needs.

• Deeds of variation – fees start at £450 plus VAT
• Conveyancing – please refer to our buying & selling property page for more information

Contested estate  

Please refer to our litigation page for further information.

Motoring Offences 

At Cramp & Mullaney, we understand that navigating legal matters can be challenging. If you are eligible for legal aid, we will guide you through the application process. However, please note that many motoring offences may not qualify for legal aid. 

Summary Only Offences

Certain motoring offences are classified as summary only offences and are exclusively heard in the Magistrates Court. Our experienced team at Cramp & Mullaney has a proven track record of representing clients and achieving excellent outcomes in a variety of motoring offences, from low-level speeding, using your mobile telephone whilst driving, to more serious offences such as driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs, careless driving, dangerous driving and sadly, cases resulting in the death or serious injury of another road user.  

The consequences of losing your licence can be severe, impacting not only your ability to work and get around, but also your family. 

 Our Fees 

Where possible we will look to offer to work on a fixed fee basis, details of which are listed below.

Factors such as the complexity of the matter, the nature of your plea, the court venue, and the number of witnesses will be considered. If your case is suitable for a fixed fee, our charges for summary only motoring offences are: 

• Motoring offences – Guilty Plea – Fixed fee of £750 inclusive of VAT based on an initial office or Teams appointment, and then the matter being finalised at one court hearing, at a local court.
• Motoring offences – Not Guilty Plea – If you plead not guilty our fixed fee to attend the Magistrates and based on a half day only is £1600 including VAT. For every additional half day, we will charge an additional £750 including VAT

 Please note that the above pricing includes attendance, preparation, and advocacy. Unfortunately, summary trials for low level motoring offences are generally not considered priority cases, and may be double booked with other court trials. Your case may not be dealt with at its first listing for trial.

 For more information or to discuss your case, please contact us at Cramp & Mullaney. We are here to help you every step of the way. 

Cramp & Mullaney LLP are experienced in all kinds of employment work and we are able act for both Employers and Employees in connection with various different types of employment dispute. We always aim to achieve the best possible outcome for our clients, as efficiently and as economically as possible.
The areas on which we can advise you and carry out work on your behalf include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Unfair or Wrongful Dismissal
• Constructive Dismissal
• Discrimination
• Harassment
• Victimisation
• Compromise Agreements
• Drafting Employment Contracts

Below are details of our fees in connection with Employment Law cases:

Hourly rates

Our fees are charged on the basis of hourly rates. The rates vary from £220 – £325 + VAT per hour. If we instruct a barrister in your case, their hourly rate is usually around £330 + VAT per hour.

Employment Tribunal costs

Cases fall in to different levels of complexity, and the costs will be dependent on this. We have set out below, our typical fees, but your actual fee will be specific to your matter.

Simple Matter

For simple cases, with one direction hearing and a final hearing, lasting less than one day, your likely costs, would be between £5,500 and £11,000 + VAT. This would be for matters for a claim worth up to £10,000.

Complex Matter

For matters with two or more direction hearings and a final hearing lasting 2 days, we would estimate our costs to be between £11,000 and £22,000 + VAT. This would be for matters for a claim with a value between £11,000 and £33,000.

Very Complex matters

For very complicated matters, where a final hearing is 2 days or more, we would expect our costs to be between £27,500 and £38,500 + VAT. These matters are harder to estimate as, complex cases involve more work.

These cases would usually have a claim value of £30,000 and higher.

We are willing to assist you in any way and are happy to do as much, or as little as you would like us to do.

A basic overview of the different stages of a claim are set out below.

The Claim

Taking instructions, reviewing documents, drafting the application form and particulars of claim and sending this to the tribunal. We may instruct a barrister, which would increase costs.

• Simple Matter: £880 – £1,100 + VAT
• Complex Matter: £1,650 – £3,300 + VAT
• Very Complex matter £3,300 – £5,500 + VAT.

Disclosure of documents

If this occurs in your case, this would usually mean reviewing all the documents that are relevant. We would take you through the documents that need to be disclosed and draft the list of documents to be sent to the other side.

• Simple Case: £550 – £880 + VAT
• Complex case: £1,100 to £2,200 + VAT
• Very Complex case: £2,200 to £5,500 + VAT.

Preparation of witness statements

This will involve meeting with you and taking instructions on the issues in the case. Costs can often be kept down by each witness preparing the first statement, before we meet with them. Simple cases will usually have only one or two witnesses, whereas more complex cases could involve five or more witnesses and very detailed statements.

• Simple cases: £825 to £1,650 + VAT
• Medium cases: £1,650 to £3,850 + VAT
• Complex cases: £3,850 to £11,000 + VAT.

Trial bundle preparation

This will include preparing all the documents and putting them together in a bundle of documents which can be used at trial and will be given to the tribunal and other parties.

• Simple cases: £825 – £1,100 + VAT.
• Medium cases: £1,100 – £2,200 + VAT
• Complex cases: £3,300 – £5,500 + VAT.

Representation at Tribunal

We would usually instruct a barrister to represent you at the final hearing. These costs would need to be discussed with you, prior to carrying out this work, as it will be very specific, based on your case, however, as a guide, please see below.

• Simple cases: £2,200 – £4,400 + VAT
• Complex cases: £4,400 – £11,000 + VAT
• Very Complex cases: £16,500 to £33,000 + VAT.

Timescale

It is difficult to give you a timescale because so much depends on external factors such as when your case can be heard.

The first hearing will usually be within three to six months of the case being sent to the Tribunal. There may not be a first hearing in simple cases, and if so, a final hearing would usually be within six to twelve months of the case starting. In more complex cases a final hearing would usually be within twelve to twenty-four months of the case starting.

Settlement Agreements

Settlement agreements are usually entered into by employees, where an agreement has been reached with their employer to terminate their employment. This can be for many different reasons. A settlement agreement, once signed, usually means that an employee would not be able to bring any claim against their employer.

We advise employees before they enter into these agreements, as advice is required to be given to an employee, for the agreement to be valid. For most cases our fees will be a minimum of £385 + VAT and depend on the complexity of the case.

In most cases the employer will contribute towards an employee’s legal costs for and we always try to keep our costs within that contribution.

We draft settlement agreements for employers and our fees are between £550 and £2,200 + VAT depending on the case and the circumstances.
If you would like to ask any questions or to receive a more accurate estimate of costs, you can:-

• Telephone our offices on 01323 720581 / 431292.
• Email us by clicking Contact us.
• Arrange to see somebody face to face either at our offices or we will come to see you. There is no extra charge for a home visit for elderly or disabled people. We can arrange appointments outside office hours.

We understand that late payment of invoices can cause difficulty when running your business. By employing us to collect this money for you, we can save you the time and stress involved in chasing these payments and allowing you to keep a good working relationship with your client or customer.

We will always discuss costs with you, before we undertake any work and provide you with a written costs estimate. How much your matter will cost will depend on the amount of work done and the stage reached, for example:

STAGE 1 – INITIAL COSTS £325 + VAT (plus disbursements)

We will take your instructions and collect from you any information necessary. After that the initial step will be making contact with your customer or client, either by telephone or by letter to ask for payment to be made. A lot of people will pay a debt if they receive a letter from a solicitor and no further action needs to be taken.

STAGE 2

If your client or customer is unwilling to make the payment or denies that all or some of the money is due, then if instructed to do so, we will endeavour to negotiate a settlement on your behalf. If we do this, our hourly charge will be between £220.00 and £325.00. No work will be undertaken without you agreeing costs beforehand.

STAGE 3

If we cannot negotiate a settlement then court proceedings may have to be taken to recover the debt. If this is the case, your costs could be anything from £11,000.00 up to £33,000.00 plus VAT and disbursements if the matter proceeds to a final hearing. You may also require a barrister to represent you at a final hearing and these fees can range from £1,650.00 – £4,620.00 plus VAT.

If court proceedings are required, you will also have to pay a court fee to HM Courts and Tribunals Service in order to start the claim. You can see the appropriate fees on the Court’s website. The minimum fee is £35 and the maximum fee (for a debt of £100,000) is £5,000.