Economical probate fees? According to the Telegraph, many banks and high street solicitors overcharge for probate services leaving grieving relatives thousands of pounds worse off. We review the services of solicitors, probate and other experts so we can point you to the right expert at a sensible fee for dealing with your situation. Economical fees are one thing, but sometimes it is necessary to pay for expertise as getting probate wrong can be a disaster for all concerned. Before passing on enquiries, we ask firms to confirm that they actually have the time to offer an efficient service! Too many firms claim to be good at everything, and with our service, you have the extra power of providing a bad report to us if the service is not up to scratch, so they could lose lots of business, not just yours. Economical probate fees means paying a fair fee to the right folk with the expertise you need.
Probate Quotes: How much can we save you? It costs nothing to find out.
Banks and Solicitors overcharge for probate
Saga found that 90 percent of those surveyed said they had used a solicitor or financial adviser but the cost for probate varied massively.Many banks, solicitors and others include themselves as executors charge up to a horrifying FIVE PERCENT of the gross* value of the estate for their work.  Where a solicitor or bank isn’t made executor in the Will, they will suggest their probate services to the grieving family who may just accept without a thought as to the uncompetitive cost.Saga said that families really should at least ask for a couple of competitive quotes before signing on the dotted line!  There is no obligation to use the firm that drafted the Will, and even if they are appointed in the Will, they should be asked to stand down if the quote was uncompetitive – or reduce their fee.Half a million people die every year, so the probate market is worth at least £225m.  The potential savings for the average family with a modest home are put as high as £9,000 by the Telegraph (and could be even more with the help of the Probate Department!)The chief of Saga services apparently implied that advisers are exploiting poor decision decision-making by grieving families. Families are just not aware of the large variations in service levels and costs, and don’t bother checking banks and solicitors are not overcharging.Our comment: the moral of this piece seems to be that it is worth contacting us for a quote – we are sure you will find it better than competitive.  Our associates’ fees are often less than half of those charged by banks, so the savings on a typical homeowners estate may be only enough to buy a nice secondhand car or maybe even a new one!Banks and solicitors overcharge for probate says TelegraphEconomical probate fees.*The “gross” value of an estate is assets PLUS liabilities, so an estate with a £500,000 house and a £400,000 mortgage is treated as being a £900,000 estate for fixed percentage fees.