Practice No. 2 — After a death
Probate & Estate Administration
From $3,500 · scoped in writing at the first meeting
We handle the court, you handle the family. Qualification, inventory, the Commissioner of Accounts, creditor claims, and the final accounting — carried, not just supervised.
For the newly appointed executor holding a death certificate and a list of questions, and the family administering an estate where there was no will at all.
How we handle it
When someone dies in Virginia, the person named as executor must qualify before the Clerk of the Circuit Court: an appointment, an oath, usually a bond, and a packet of duties that arrive at the worst possible moment. Within months there is an inventory due to the Commissioner of Accounts; within sixteen months, the first accounting, every deposit and disbursement reconciled to the penny. It is bookkeeping performed publicly, under oath, while grieving. Nobody warns you about this part.
Joanna Bell spent twelve years administering estates inside a bank trust department before she began representing executors, which means the firm's checklists were built from the clerk's side of the counter. We prepare the qualification paperwork before you walk into the courthouse, we draft the inventory and the accountings, we publish the creditor notices, and we answer the Commissioner's questions in the Commissioner's language. You make the decisions an executor must make; we make sure the machinery around those decisions runs.
Some estates are simpler than families fear: Virginia's small-estate procedures can transfer personal property under $50,000 by affidavit, with no qualification at all. When that is true, we will say so at the first meeting and charge you for an hour, not an administration. When the estate is genuinely complicated (a business, a contested claim, real estate in three states) you will get a written scope and a fixed number before we begin.
What the fee includes
- A first meeting that maps the estate and tells you honestly how heavy this will be
- Preparation for the qualification appointment with the Circuit Court clerk, including bond arrangements
- The probate inventory, prepared and filed with the Commissioner of Accounts
- Creditor notice publication and the debts-and-demands procedure where useful
- Estate accountings (first, interim, and final) reconciled and filed on time
- Coordination of date-of-death valuations, from brokerage letters to real-estate appraisals
- Distribution schedules and receipts, so the file closes cleanly and stays closed
- Plain answers to the executor's telephone calls, which are always included in the fee
The honest timeline
Weeks 1–3 — Qualification
Meet with us, then qualify before the clerk. You leave the courthouse with letters of qualification and a plan.
Month 4 — Inventory
The estate inventory is due to the Commissioner of Accounts four months after qualification. We prepare it; you verify and sign.
Months 6–12 — Administration
Claims resolved, assets collected or sold, taxes filed. The quiet middle stretch where our checklists earn their keep.
Month 16 and after — Accounting & closing
First accounting due at sixteen months. Straightforward estates often close on that filing; we tell you early if yours will take longer.
What to bring
Or what to gather — none of it needs to be perfect.
- The original will, if one exists (not a photocopy; the clerk will want the original)
- A certified death certificate, or the funeral home's paperwork if certificates are still pending
- A first pass at a list of assets and debts, even a handwritten one
- Recent statements for any accounts you know about
- Names and addresses of the heirs and beneficiaries you can identify
Questions we hear about probate & estate administration
How long does probate take in Virginia?
A straightforward estate typically runs twelve to eighteen months, driven by the Commissioner of Accounts calendar: the inventory at four months, the first accounting at sixteen. Estates with a house to sell, a business, or a dispute run longer. Beware of anyone who promises a faster number without seeing the file.
Do I have to serve as executor just because I was named?
No. You may renounce, and sometimes you should — distance, family friction, or your own health are all honorable reasons. If you decline, the will's alternate steps in, or the court appoints an administrator. Talk to us before you qualify; the oath is easier to avoid than to unwind.
The estate is small. Is full probate really necessary?
Possibly not. Virginia allows personal property under $50,000 to pass by small-estate affidavit sixty days after death, and assets with beneficiary designations or survivorship titling bypass probate entirely. Roughly a fifth of the families who call us need an hour of guidance rather than an administration — we will tell you which you are at the first meeting.
What does the estate pay, and what do I pay personally?
Our fees are an expense of the estate, paid from estate funds and disclosed on the accountings, not out of your pocket. Executors are also entitled to reasonable compensation under Virginia practice, commonly guided by a percentage of the estate; many family executors waive it, but you should decide that with the numbers in front of you, not out of guilt.
Often planned together
Wills & Revocable Trusts
Flat fee from $1,200 individual · $1,950 couple
A will or revocable trust drafted for Virginia law and actually funded: deed, retitling, and every designation confirmed in writing.
Powers of Attorney & Advance Directives
Flat fee from $350
A durable power of attorney a bank will actually honor, and an advance medical directive your family can actually follow.
Elder Law & Incapacity Planning
From $1,500 · scoped after the first family meeting
Long-term care costs, Medicaid's five-year look-back, and a plan that keeps a person's dignity and savings intact.
Put your affairs in order this season.
Thirty minutes on the telephone, no charge, and you will know exactly which documents you need and exactly what they cost. That is the whole commitment.
Or telephone the office: (804) 555-0158