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Trust and estate planning · Six fixed fees, with VAT

Estate and tax planning

Inheritance tax, trusts and passing on a business or farm, worked out with your advisers and priced as fixed items. Each item is a fixed fee agreed in writing before any work starts.

Fixed fees
from£750+ VAT(£900 inc. VAT)

For inheritance tax plan with your accountant or adviser. Six items, each with its own fixed fee, listed below.

Who does the work
Aaron Johnson, Consultant Solicitor and TEP, personally. No hand-offs.
Find your plan and priceBook a 15-minute call
A sheet of cream paper on a bare desk carrying a hand drawn diagram of empty boxes joined by ruled ink lines, one box outlined in terracotta, with a pencil, a soft eraser and a steel rule lying below it.

What it costs

Each item, and the costs that are not the fee.

Third-party costs, called disbursements, are paid to the court, the Office of the Public Guardian, HM Land Registry or another body. They are passed on at cost and shown here so there is nothing to discover later.

See every fee on one page.

What you pay for Estate and tax planning
ItemAmount
Inheritance tax check and will structureOne person or a couple · Within the will timescale£450+ VAT(£540 inc. VAT)
Planning with your advisersOne person or a couple · Within the will timescale, plus one joint meeting£750+ VAT(£900 inc. VAT)
Lifetime trustOne person or a couple · 4 to 6 weeks£1,500+ VAT(£1,800 inc. VAT)
Lifetime trust with a propertyOne person or a couple · 6 to 8 weeksFrom this figure, agreed as a fixed fee in writing before any work starts. Once agreed it does not change.from£2,000+ VAT(£2,400 inc. VAT)
Inheritance tax planOne person or a couple · 3 to 4 weeks£750+ VAT(£900 inc. VAT)
Succession reviewOne person or a couple · 6 to 8 weeksFrom this figure, agreed as a fixed fee in writing before any work starts. Once agreed it does not change.from£2,500+ VAT(£3,000 inc. VAT)
Third-party costs, paid at cost
HMRC Trust Registration ServiceNo HMRC fee to register a trustno fee
Land Registry official copiesper document, HM Land Registry, no VAT£7
Land Registry restriction feeAt cost, where a restriction is registeredvaries

Regulated work (trust wills, probate, trust and estate administration) carries a small onboarding fee for the matter and an identity check for each person. Standard wills and powers of attorney do not. It is confirmed before any work starts. For this service it is £20 + VAT for the matter and £6.25 + VAT for each person.

What happens, in order

From first call to finish.

Aaron does each step himself. If a step takes longer than expected, that is his cost, not yours.

  1. Free 15-minute call

    Aaron listens to your situation and explains what planning could do for you.

  2. Planning meeting

    A full review of your assets, business interests, family and long-term aims.

  3. The plan

    Aaron writes the plan: trusts, tax steps and succession, as your situation needs.

  4. Documents

    Aaron drafts the documents, goes through them with you and amends them until you are satisfied.

  5. Signing and review

    Aaron supervises the signing and recommends when the plan should next be reviewed.

Included and not included

What the fee covers, and what it does not.

Published under the SRA Transparency Rules. Anything outside the fee is quoted separately before it is done.

  • Inheritance tax check and will structure

    One person or a couple · Within the will timescale · £450+ VAT

    When it applies
    Offered as a yes or no at this price in the near band (one person £325,000 to £500,000; a married couple £650,000 to £1 million; an unmarried couple £325,000 to £650,000), where the value is not sure, with one other property, or where advice on inheritance tax is asked for under the allowances. Included above the near band, with two or more other properties, or for a deed of variation made for tax or to create a trust.
    Included
    Aaron maps your inheritance tax position (the nil-rate band, the residence allowance and, for a married couple, what transfers between you), structures the wills to use the allowances, and explains the result in writing.
    Not included
    Lifetime trusts, business or farm relief work and advice with your accountant or adviser are Level 2 or their own items.

  • Planning with your advisers

    One person or a couple · Within the will timescale, plus one joint meeting · £750+ VAT

    When it applies
    A business or farm; an estate over £2 million; you want Aaron to work with your accountant or adviser. Not charged alongside the succession review, which includes the joint meeting.
    Included
    Everything in the inheritance tax check, plus one joint meeting with your accountant, financial adviser or land agent, business or agricultural property relief drafting (since 6 April 2026 the first £2,500,000 of combined farm and business property has full relief and half relief above that, and any unused allowance passes to a surviving spouse or civil partner).
    Not included
    A will with a discretionary trust, a lifetime trust, a succession plan for the business or farm, and ongoing trust administration are their own items.

  • Lifetime trust

    One person or a couple · 4 to 6 weeks · £1,500+ VAT

    When it applies
    Setting up a trust now with cash, investments or a life policy.
    Included
    Advice on the right trust, the trust deed, a letter of wishes, trustee guidance, the inheritance tax note on the gift, and registration with HMRC.
    Not included
    A property going into the trust is the property item; ongoing administration is a separate yearly item.

  • Lifetime trust with a property

    One person or a couple · 6 to 8 weeks · from£2,000+ VAT

    When it applies
    Setting up a trust now that includes a property.
    Included
    Everything in the lifetime trust, plus the transfer of one unmortgaged title into the trust and the Land Registry work.
    Not included
    A mortgaged property, lender consent or more than one title raise the fixed fee, agreed first. Care-fee motives are discussed honestly against the deprivation rules.

  • Inheritance tax plan

    One person or a couple · 3 to 4 weeks · £750+ VAT

    When it applies
    A plan without new wills; or a deed of variation asked for more than two years after the death.
    Included
    A written plan of your inheritance tax position and the steps worth taking, agreed in one joint meeting with your accountant or financial adviser.
    Not included
    Documents the plan recommends (new wills, a lifetime trust, a deed of variation) are priced as their own items.

  • Succession review

    One person or a couple · 6 to 8 weeks · from£2,500+ VAT

    When it applies
    Offered when there is a business or farm; added only if you say yes.
    Included
    How the business or farm passes on during your lifetime and on death: relief position, ownership structure, shareholder or partnership documents reviewed with your accountant and land agent, and a written plan.
    Not included
    Company documents drafted by a corporate solicitor, valuations, and tax returns.

How the fees are set

Estate and tax planning is priced as fixed items. Aaron confirms which items your situation needs after a free 15-minute call, and gives you the fee in writing before any work starts.

The items

An inheritance tax check and will structure, with a will. Planning with your advisers, with a will. A will with a discretionary trust in it. A standalone inheritance tax plan. A lifetime trust, at a higher fee where a property goes into it. A deed of variation. A declaration of trust. Trust registration. Yearly trust administration. A business or farm succession review. Aaron publishes every one of these fees, with VAT, on the fees page.

Where a fee is "from"

A lifetime trust with a mortgaged property or more than one title, or a succession review covering several businesses or holdings, raises the fixed fee. The higher figure is agreed with you first.

What is included

A review of your assets and family circumstances. Working with your accountant or financial adviser. A written plan. Drafting of the documents the plan needs. One round of amendments. A meeting to sign and witness the documents.

What is not included

Accountancy tax advice (unless instructed jointly). Valuations of property or a business. Trust registration and yearly administration, unless added as items. Later reviews of the plan. Conveyancing and lender consent where a mortgaged property goes into a trust.

Aaron’s promise

What you can hold him to.

  • Aaron handles your matter from start to finish
  • The fee is fixed and confirmed before work starts
  • Aaron works with your financial adviser and accountant at no extra charge
  • Home visits across Bridlington and East Yorkshire
  • A free 15-minute call, with no obligation

In more detail

Related guides

Planning beyond a standard will

A standard will is enough for most people. It is not enough when there is inheritance tax to plan for, a farm or business to pass on, or a family situation that a simple will cannot handle. Estate and tax planning deals with that.

This is separate from will drafting. It is advice, worked out with your accountant or financial adviser where you have one, and the documents that put it into effect.

Aaron does not treat it as a tick-box exercise. He works alongside your independent financial adviser and accountant so the legal documents match the financial plan.

Who this is for

  • One person with an estate over £325,000 (or £500,000 if a home passes to children or grandchildren)
  • A married couple or civil partners with a combined estate over £650,000 (or £1,000,000 if a home passes to children or grandchildren)
  • Business owners who want to use business property relief and plan the succession
  • Farmers who want to use agricultural property relief and keep the working farm together
  • Families with a second marriage, a vulnerable beneficiary or overseas connections
  • Anyone whose will or planning has not been reviewed for five years or more

How the fees work

Every item is a fixed fee, agreed in writing after a free 15-minute call:

  • Inheritance tax check and will structure: added to a will
  • Planning with your advisers: added to a will
  • Lifetime trust: a separate fee, higher where a property goes into the trust

Also priced as their own items: a will with a discretionary trust in it, a standalone inheritance tax plan, a deed of variation, a declaration of trust, trust registration, yearly trust administration and a business or farm succession review. Aaron publishes every fee, with VAT, on the fees page.

What Aaron does

  • Trusts: lifetime trusts, personal injury trusts and declarations of trust, to hold assets for the people you choose
  • Inheritance tax: lifetime gifts and the seven-year rule, chargeable lifetime transfers, and deeds of variation within two years of a death
  • Trustee support: guiding trustees through their duties, registering the trust with HMRC and keeping it in order each year
  • Business and farm succession: how the business or farm passes on in your lifetime and on death. Since 6 April 2026 the first £2,500,000 of combined farm and business property has full inheritance tax relief and half relief above that. Any unused allowance passes to a surviving spouse or civil partner.

What the fee includes

  • A review of your assets and family circumstances
  • Working with your accountant or financial adviser
  • A written plan
  • Drafting of the documents the plan needs (wills, trusts, deeds)
  • One round of amendments
  • A meeting to sign and witness the documents

What is not included

The following are separate. Aaron will say which, if any, apply and agree a fee before any work starts:

  • Accountancy tax advice: where a chartered accountant is needed, they can be instructed jointly with Aaron
  • Valuations: property, business or agricultural valuations by third-party specialists
  • Trust registration with HMRC: charged per trust, where registering it is not part of the plan
  • Yearly trust administration: charged for each year Aaron keeps the trust in order
  • Reviews: Aaron recommends reviewing the plan every few years, as circumstances and tax law change
  • Court of Protection applications: for a family member who has already lost capacity

You may need none of these. Aaron will say what applies on the free call.

What happens if you do nothing

Inheritance tax is charged at 40 percent on the part of an estate above the available allowances. Without planning, assets built up over a lifetime can be reduced by tax, by care costs, or by a beneficiary's divorce or poor decisions. For a business or farm the stakes are higher: without relief planning, part of it may have to be sold to pay the tax.

Why Safe Harbour

  • Aaron handles your matter from start to finish. It is never passed to a junior or a paralegal.
  • Fixed fees, confirmed before work starts. No hourly rates.
  • Aaron works with your financial adviser and accountant at no extra charge
  • Home visits across Bridlington and East Yorkshire. Aaron comes to you.
  • Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, with professional indemnity insurance.
  • Aaron explains tax and trusts in plain English, without jargon

You may also need

  • Lasting powers of attorney: a plan is no use if nobody can run it. If you lose capacity, your attorneys can carry it on. Doing them with your will takes a fixed amount off the fee, once for the whole matter.
  • A will with a trust in it: where the plan needs a trust that starts on death, it is drafted as part of the will

Other trust and estate planning fees.

About trust and estate planning
  1. Severing the joint tenancy (splitting the home into two shares)

    For a couple · Alongside the wills

    Notice of severance so each of you owns a distinct share, and the Land Registry form that records it. No Land Registry fee.

    No third-party costs.

    £150+ VAT(£180 inc. VAT)
  2. Declaration of trust

    One person or a couple · 2 to 3 weeks

    A deed recording who owns what share of a property, what happens on sale or death, and the Land Registry restriction to protect it.

    Plus Land Registry official copies £7. Land Registry restriction fee, at cost.

    £450+ VAT(£540 inc. VAT)
  3. Deed of variation

    One person or a couple · 2 to 4 weeks

    Redirecting part or all of an inheritance to someone else by deed, with the tax elections where the death was within two years.

    No third-party costs.

    £650+ VAT(£780 inc. VAT)
  4. Trust registration

    One person or a couple · 2 to 3 weeks

    Gathering the trust details, registering on the Trust Registration Service, and the proof of registration the bank or adviser will ask for.

    Plus HMRC Trust Registration Service, no fee.

    £300+ VAT(£360 inc. VAT)per trust
  5. Yearly trust administration

    One person or a couple · Each year

    Annual trustee meeting and minutes, decisions recorded properly, the Trust Registration Service kept up to date, and HMRC correspondence.

    No third-party costs.

    £500+ VAT(£600 inc. VAT)a year

Next step

Four ways to start. Take the one you are comfortable with.

Or call 01262 310 850. Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm.

  1. 01No commitment
    Find your plan and price

    Sixty seconds of questions that end on your plan and a fixed fee, with VAT. No call needed.

  2. 02Low commitment
    Download the instruction form

    A fillable PDF. Type into it, save it and email it back, or print it.

  3. 03A conversation
    Book a 15-minute call

    15 minutes with Aaron, by phone or video, at no charge. Appointments are usually available within a few working days, including Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and home visits across East and North Yorkshire.

  4. 04Ready to go
    Start my matter

    Give Aaron the details he needs and he confirms the fixed fee in writing before any work starts.