Cost of Letters of Administration in Ghana

There are three (3)  levels of payments involved in the cost of Letters of Administration in Ghana. These are the Lawyer’s Fees, paid to your Lawyer for legal services, the Court Fees paid to the Court for filing of your documents and the Estate Duty, a levy charged by the Court on the value of the estate.

Learn more about Applications for Letters of Administration here.

In summary, the amount paid to the Lawyer is negotiable, it is a maximum of GHc14,000 or 5% of the Estate or both. The amount paid to the Court also depends on the size of the estate; it may be as little as GHc500 or several times more depending on the documents required. The amount paid to Court as Estate Duty is 1% to 3% of the estate.

Lawyer’s Fees

The Solicitor’s fees usually depends on the size and value of the estate. In other words, a small estate will attract a smaller legal fee than a large estate.

Estates smaller than GH₵200,000.00 attract a maximum legal fee of GH₵14,000.00. Estates greater than GH₵200,000.00 will attract the same legal fee of GH₵14,000.00 in addition to a maximum of 5% on the remainder.

It is worth noting that an experienced senior lawyer will charge more than a lawyer who is fresh out of law school. However, the charges are not arbitrary, the Ghana Bar Association determines the legal fees of lawyers and the 2022 GBA Scale of Legal Fees provides the most current guide for legal charges in Ghana. Inheritance cases are dealt with at page 8 of the Scale of Fees.

Please note that the Solicitor’s Fee is paid to the lawyer for legal services and it is separate from the fees paid to the court and other incidental fees/bills.

Court Fees

The Administration process is done by filing legal documents at the Court. The Courts charge a filing fee for every legal document. It is a small charge that is levied on every legal process filed at the Court.

Every legal document has its own charge and the charges are determined by the Rules of Court Committee. The most current filing fees are in the Civil Proceedings (Fees and Allowances) (Amendment) Rules 2014 (C.I.86). The costs to be paid for each document depends on the particular type of legal process being filed. It may be as little as GHc50, GHc500, GHc1,000 or more.

The total amount to be paid as filing fee throughout the application process is impossible to pre-determine. This is because every case is different and may require different legal solutions.  However, for a small estate with no contentions and no family disputes, about GHc500 to GHc1000 will be a reasonable budget for filing fees.

Estate Duty

The Law levies a Duty on the estate. It is based on the value of the estate. It is approximately 1% – 3% of the value of the estate.
The Court will only release the actual Certificate (L/A or Probate) after the Estate Duty is paid.

Additional Expenses

Apart from the official costs, there are other incidental expenses.  These are necessary for a successful estate  administration. They are not paid to the Lawyer or Court.
These include incidental costs like transportation, and other similar costs, etc.,.

The Administrator or Executor ought to pay for all expenses out of the estate. They must settle the expenses before the distribution can take place. Therefore, it is advisable for Administrators and Executors to keep receipts of payments made on behalf of the estate. This will allow them to claim the amounts involved from the estate before distribution.

Conclusion

The total Cost of Administration in Ghana is hard to assess.
However, with this post, we hope to provide a guide towards assessment. We can guarantee that whatever estimate is assessed based on this guide, will turn out to be more or less than the actual cost of Administration.