Caira can translate the quote before you commit. Upload a grant-only quote, full administration quote, provider checklist or probate form. Caira can explain what is included, what is still your job, and which questions to ask.
Summary: The grant is legal authority. Estate administration is the wider job of collecting assets, paying debts, keeping records and distributing the estate. A cheap grant-only service may be enough for a simple estate, but it can leave executors with the hardest work still to do.
Probate pricing can be confusing because providers use similar words for different levels of help. A family may think they are paying for someone to deal with the estate, only to discover they have paid for an application, not the full administration.
The grant is not the whole estate
A grant of probate or letters of administration gives authority to deal with certain assets. It does not magically close bank accounts, sell a house, answer family questions, prepare estate accounts or distribute money safely. Those jobs sit around the grant.
What grant-only usually covers
A grant-only service usually helps prepare and submit the application. It may help organise the estate values needed for the form. Once the grant is issued, the executor may still need to send it to banks, close accounts, collect money, pay debts, deal with property, keep records and distribute the estate.
Grant-only can be sensible if the estate is clean and you mainly need help with the application. It can be poor value if the real difficulty is beneficiary pressure, property sale delay, missing statements, care fees, gifts or tax questions.
What full administration usually covers
Full estate administration is broader. A provider may contact institutions, collect assets, pay estate bills, deal with HMRC, prepare estate accounts, update beneficiaries and arrange distributions. The word may matters. Always check the actual scope.
Quick way to spot the difference
Grant-only: usually focused on getting legal authority from the probate registry.
Full administration: usually focused on running the estate from document gathering to distribution.
Hybrid support: may help with forms, accounts or queries while the executor keeps control.
Solicitor-led work: often needed where there is tax, conflict, trusts, overseas property or legal risk.
Common messy scenario: one executor wants cheap, one wants help
Two brothers are executors. One says they should save money and do it all themselves. The other lives abroad, has young children and knows he cannot manage calls during UK office hours. The estate is not legally dramatic, but it has a house, six bank accounts, private pensions and a beneficiary who asks for updates every week.
That family may not need a solicitor to do everything. But grant-only may not be enough either. They may need targeted help: forms, estate accounts, property sale admin, or a provider to manage communications.
Questions to ask before buying either service
Ask: who contacts banks? Who prepares estate accounts? Who deals with IHT forms? Who handles property sale questions? Who updates beneficiaries? What happens if a beneficiary disputes the will? Are Section 27 notices included? Are extra bank accounts charged separately? Can the fee change?
How Caira can help
Upload the quote, onboarding form, provider terms or Octopus Legacy-style service summary. Caira can make a task split: provider tasks, executor tasks, documents needed from you, possible extra costs and questions to ask. It can also read forms that need filling in and explain what information is being requested before you complete them.
This lets you decide with a clearer head. Not every estate needs full administration. Not every executor needs to do it alone. Sometimes the most sensible answer is modest paid help around the few tasks that are causing the most strain.
Disclaimer: This article is general information for England and Wales. It is not legal, tax, financial or medical advice.
