Will, Probate and Fees

Clearly the policy of some solicitors to charge a flat (e.g. 3%) fee on estate value gives very poor value for money for a simple estate. Some solicitors are really only interested in your money (have personal experience of them) and some are really decent people who are genuinely interested in your best interests and charging fairly for their work (also have personal experience of them).

murphaph said:

Clearly the policy of some solicitors to charge a flat (e.g. 3%) fee on estate value gives very poor value for money for a simple estate. Some solicitors are really only interested in your money (have personal experience of them) and some are really decent people who are genuinely interested in your best interests and charging fairly for their work (also have personal experience of them).

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What would you suggest as a fair fee for a simple estate?

dazza21ie said:

What would you suggest as a fair fee for a simple estate?

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I don't have an exact figure in mind but I believe the cost of probate should be derived from the complexity of the work/estate-NOT simply the value of the estate which doesn't indicate how much work is involved. In some cases the charges will be higher of course and the public would have to understand that! A simple estate with no real property and just a €1m insurance policy should not attract the same fees as a highly complex estate (of the same overall value) with possibly poor titles etc. to search.

The system needs more transparency as is apparent in England & Wales, that's for sure.

Not so long ago i seen an invoice from an English firm of solicitors for some estate work they carried out on our clients behalf. This particular firm charge on an hourly basis and completed what i would describe as simple work but still time consuming. Because they charge on an hourly basis their invoice ended up being alot more than our own invoice even though we would have done alot more work. We charged a % of the estate fee.

Thanks for the info. I will update the thread with the progress.

The point about fixed rate versus hourly depends on the value of the estate and the complexity of the work. Generally, it would benefit the solicitor to charge a % for a high value estate where work straighforward and non-contentious, and an hourly rate for a low value estate.

A practitioner familiar with this area of work would have streamlined his/her workstream.

The issue is not fixed rate versus % but whether a fixed price is available in the market. In a competitive market a fixed rate should be sought in order to benefit from any efficiencies which are available (hourly rate does not give this incentive). Obviously, lowest price may not always be best in terms of service scope and quality.