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Limited Retainer

Option 1 - Only Pay For the Unbundled Core Legal Services You Want Us to Do
A limited retainer, also known as a limited scope retainer or unbundled service, allows a lawyer to provide limited services to a client, with the client choosing those legal services a lawyer is responsible for with the client retaining responsibility for the file and other matters legal matters that need to be attended to.

For these services for which we charge an hourly rate and provide written fee estimates.
To provide a written fee estimate we need to know the scope of the limited retainer [what unbundled legal services you want us to provide].  The Surrogate Rules of Court set out what is a Core Legal Service and can be found here and provide a list of services that are to be included in the probate services provided by Lawyers.

We can offer an hourly rate of $300.00 per hour, however, the hourly rate will and does vary depending upon the lawyer at the firm doing the work, the complexity of the legal issues and nature of the legal work and reflects what we consider to be a current and competitive hourly rate for our services, as adjusted over the period of the engagement. These fees do not include G.S.T. and disbursement and are based upon the gross value of the estate.

​Limited scope retainers can make legal services more affordable by allowing the client to remain responsible for all aspects of their case while allowing the client to seek and pay only for the limited scope of legal advice, assistance and representation that they require to carry on their case.

​The flexibility of a limited scope retainer allows the client to pick and chose what legal services they want to pay for.

​One of the primary benefits of an hourly rate basis is that you pay only for the time required for the legal services that you request, as opposed to a flat fee or contingency fee basis where the fee is not based upon the time spent providing you the legal services requested.

As we do have ethical requirements and limitations on when we can act on a limited retainer so please  contact us today to see if a limited retainer is appropriate for your legal needs and how we can be of assistance to you.

Fees for Non-core and Other Legal Services
We will be happy to assist you with Non-Core Legal services. We will charge you for the time we spend on these services at a fixed fee or hourly rate as agreed to depending upon the Non-Core Legal Services and Other Legal Services sought.

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Full Retainer

Option 2 - ​Let Us Take Care of the Core Legal Services for Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration
For a full retainer for use to provide Core Legal Services, we charge a fixed fee of $1,999.99 plus 1% of the value of the estate.  

​These fees do not include G.S.T. and disbursement and are based upon the gross value of the estate.
The Surrogate Rules of Court set out what is a Core Legal Service and can be found here and provide a list of services that are to be included in the probate services provided by Lawyers.

When we render an account we review your matter to decide if the quoted fixed fee is appropriate in relation to the services provided. If we feel that the quoted fee is too high, we will reduce it to a fair and reasonable amount as outlined in our Code of Professional Conduct and the Surrogate Rules.

We have set forth below the Legal Education Society of Alberta Fee Guidelines published in 1995, and while the Fee Guideline is old, we are in most instances charging less then the fees suggested in 1995.

Why are Fees Calculated on the Value of the Estate - "More Money More Problems"

We commonly get asked why legal fees are calculated on the value of the estate.

Using the value of the estate has for quite some time been used to estimate the work [and resulting fees] involved in administering an estate, and so it been a common practice for quite some time to calculate the legal fees as a percentage of the estate.

The reason can be colloquially referred to as "More Money More Problems" type of situation, as the larger an estate generally results in increased complexity, increased amount of work involved and increased risk in administering the estate for reasons including:
  • Increased work and complexity in attending to an inventory of the estate assets and debts;
  • Increased work and complexity in administering a larger number of estates assets;
  • Increased work and complexity in administering different types of estate assets [real property, investments, digital assets etc.];
  • Increased work and complexity in administering different estate assets in different locations and jurisdictions;
  • Increased work and complexity in administering more complex estate assets such as corporate, partnership or trust interests;
  • Increased risk and liability to the estate and the personal representatives in administering the estate, its assets and dealing with estate liabilities and claims against the estate;
  • Increase work and complexity in administering the estate with multiple personal representatives or executors or whom reside out of the jusridiction.
  • ​Increased work and complexity in administering the estate to resolve complicating factors related to beneficiaries such as:
    • Beneficiary conflict;
    • Claims of Beneficiaries against the estate;
    • Beneficiaries under the age of majority;
    • Beneficiaries residing outside of the jurisdiction;
    • Increased number of beneficiaries;
    • Beneficiaries with different interests in the estate and legacies.

It is also noted that as set forth below, the Courts charge a sliding scale fee based upon the value of the Estate as set forth in the Alberta Surrogate Court Fees for Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration which is set forth below.

Legal Education Society of Alberta 1995 Fee Guidelines 

For Lawyer's fees, in 1995 the Legal Education Society of Alberta published Fee Guidelines.  The Fee Guidelines are not officially sanctioned, and have not been updated since 1995, but suggests that the following fees for Core Legal Services in 1995:
  1. For Estates up to $150,000 a flat fee of $2,250 plus 0.5% of the value of the Estate.  These fees are based on the gross value of the Estate and do not include disbursements and GST;
  2. For Estates over $150,000 a flat fee of $2,250 plus 1% of the value of the Estate.  These fees are based on the gross value of the Estate and do not include disbursements and GST.

Again, as set forth above for most estates our current fees are less than those published in 1995.

​Fees for Non-core and Other Legal Services
We will be happy to assist you with Non-Core Legal services. We will charge you for the time we spend on these services at a fixed fee or hourly rate as agreed to depending upon the Non-Core Legal Services and Other Legal Services sought.

Contact Us For Your Free No Obligation Fee Estimate

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Alberta Surrogate Court Fees for Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration

The applicable legal fees for core and non-core legal services for applying for probate and administering an estate are set forth above.

Set forth below are the Surrogate Court filing fees for a Grant of Probate or letters of administration.
  
Effective May 1, 2015 the Surrogate Court Filing Fees for Issuing Grants of Probate [filing fee to probate a will], issuing letters of administration [filing fee to administer an estate without a will], resealing grants [excluding trusteeship] are  as follows:
 
1.  If the net value of the Alberta property in the Estate is  $0.00 up to $10,000.00 then the fee is $35.00;
2.  If the net value of the Alberta property in the Estate is  $10,000.00 up to $25,000.00 then the fee is $135.00;
​3.  If the net value of the Alberta property in the Estate is  $25,000.00 up to $125,000.00 then the fee is $275.00;
​3.  If the net value of the Alberta property in the Estate is  $125,000.00 up to $250,000.00 then the fee is $400.00;
​4.  If the net value of the Alberta property in the Estate is over $250,000.00 then the fee is $525.00.

There are other Surrogate Court fees as follows:
  1. The fees for other estate documents, application for Trusteeship, Grant of Double Probate, Caveats, Supplemental Grant or Grant of Administration of Unadministered Property is  $250.00;
  2. There is a $50.00 fee for filing an application during an Estate or Trusteeship action or proceeding;
  3. The Queens Bench Commencement Fee is $250.00.
  4. The Court also charges fees for certification, searches and photocopies.

If you need representation or assistance in probating a will or administering an estate please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Contact Us

Click on the icons to contact us or for our contact information, or drop by our office, we are a conveniently located Windermere law office in South West Edmonton, with easy access from Anthony Henday Drive,  Whitemud Drive, Terwillegar Drive with free on site parking, or you can contact us.