How much to charge for my time as Estate Administrator

twignme

My late sister passed away intestate, although she made a Will she didn't get it witnessed appropriately. As a sibling, I took on the job to apply for letters of administration and deal with the Estate. At first, this was going to be a very simple task but since then her late partner (not married/civil partnership etc so no legal claim) has begun to be very difficult and no matter what I offer he has insisted on taking this through the High Court in UK. Without getting into too much detail, the task of Administrator is now much larger and time consuming than it had been and so I would like to claim my costs from the Estate. While hard costs are easy enough to tally, how do I calculate what I should charge for my time for the hundreds of hours this has taken over the last 18 months and with more yet to come?

P. Breathnach

My understanding is that, unless you are a legal professional, you are not allowed to charge a fee. I imagine that somebody who works in the field can confirm or correct this.

It might have been a mistake not to engage a solicitor when you saw problems looming.

twignme

P. Breathnach wrote: »

My understanding is that, unless you are a legal professional, you are not allowed to charge a fee. I imagine that somebody who works in the field can confirm or correct this.

It might have been a mistake not to engage a solicitor when you saw problems looming.

Thank you, I had the impression that you were allowed to claim reasonable costs as the Administrator and that some Wills are explicit in providing for this but I may have been mistaken. The Estate is a very small one and would probably be all but wiped out by the first High Court hearing if a Solicitor had been engaged. On the other hand, my late sister's partner has no limit to his budget and is simply carrying out a personal vendetta.

FreudianSlippers

I am going to presume by UK you're referring to England & Wales - it's outside of my area, but AFAIK P. Breathnach is correct, only professionals can charge fees to the estate, but any executor can be reimbursed for expenses related to administration.

twignme

Thanks for the confirmation FreudianSlipper. Could I not presume that my time is an expense or is that splitting hairs ...?

Bicycle

I administered the estate of a relative - in conjunction with a solicitor.

You can claim against the estate for receiptable things such as postage or paying electricity bills etc. provided you provide a receipt.

You cannot claim the time spent on the estate. As you are aware you voluntarily apply to be the administrator of an estate. Its not something you are forced into.

twignme

Thanks Bicycle. Unfortunately like greatness, some of us have the role of administrator thrust upon us.