The Final Balance / Numbers
Every figure the desk rests on, in one place
The numbers behind the desk
This page exists so that no number in the desk has to be taken on trust. The ten samples are reduced to one table each, and every figure below is derived from the ones above it, so the arithmetic can be followed rather than believed.
Desk spec
- estates
- 1,240
- mean gross
- 412.60
- mean released
- 346.56
- median clock
- 84 days
the authorityThe document that lets an operator deal with an estate. Of 600 sampled claims, 372 were made on a grant of probate, 148 on letters of administration after an intestacy, 54 under a small-estate exemption, and 26 were refused for producing none of them.
the balance layersWhat the number on the statement is made of. The mean sample balance is 412.60: 318.40 of real money, 61.90 of a bonus whose wagering was never met, and 32.30 of stakes sitting in open bets. Only the real money and the settled bets reach the estate.
the clockThe time the claim takes. A median 9 days from the death to notification, 61 days from notification to a grant being proved and 23 days from there to release, so 84 days from notification and 93 from the death; nine claims in ten close within 310 days.
Direct answer
The desk rests on ten invented samples: 1,240 estates in a year, a mean gross balance of 412.60, a claim authority split of 372 probate and 148 letters of administration out of 600, four kinds of fee totalling 5,129.20, a tax split of 892 below threshold and 348 required to report, 74 negative balances, and a median 84 days from notification to release. Nothing in them is observed; every figure is derived from the samples on the overview.
The samples, reduced
| Sample | Subject | Headline figure | Second figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | The event | 1,240 estates | median 9 days |
| B | The authority | 372 of 600 probate | 26 refused |
| C | The documents | 4.22 per claim | 600 certificates |
| D | The balance | 412.60 gross | 61.90 bonus |
| E | The bets | 286 accounts | 41 antepost |
| F | The fees | 5,129.20 | 214 inactivity |
| G | The tax | 348 returns | 0 withheld |
| H | The debts | 74 negative | 51 set-off |
| I | The deadline | 84 days | 12 to the state |
| J | The data | 1,008 requests | 214 refused |
| Derived across the samples | released value | 429,738.80 | mean 346.56 |
sample D - the mean balance and its layers
real money 318.40 77.2% paid in full
bonus, unmet wagering 61.90 15.0% forfeited
stakes in open bets 32.30 7.8% returned or settled
gross 412.60 100.0%
check: 318.40 + 61.90 + 32.30 = 412.60
samples D, F and G - 1,240 estates, in money
gross value = 1,240 x 412.60 = 511,624.00
bonus forfeited = 1,240 x 61.90 = 76,756.00
fees (sample F) = 5,129.20
released value = 511,624.00 - 76,756.00 - 5,129.20
= 429,738.80 mean 346.56 an estate
tax withheld = 0.00 (sample G)
sample B - the claim routes
probate 372 = 62.0%
letters of admin. 148 = 24.7%
small-estate exempt. 54 = 9.0%
refused 26 = 4.3%
total 600
check: 372 + 148 + 54 + 26 = 600
sample I - the clock
death to notification 9
notification to authority 61
authority to release 23
notification to release 84 total from death 93
within 310 days 1,180 of 1,240 = 95.2%
past a year 46 = 3.7%
sample F - the fees, itemised
inactivity 214 x 13.50 = 2,889.00
administration 96 x 12.00 = 1,152.00
currency 88 x 6.40 = 563.20
transfer 21 x 25.00 = 525.00
total = 2,889.00 + 1,152.00 + 563.20 + 525.00 = 5,129.20
as a share of the released 429,738.80 = 1.19%
Every figure on this page is illustrative and derives from the ten invented samples defined on the overview, and every one of them is a mean or a count over an invented population. No real operator, estate, executor, court, regulator or balance is described, none of the figures was observed, and nothing here is legal, probate or tax advice for any jurisdiction.
Five ways to sanity-check any figure you are given
- Whether the balance is quoted gross or after the bonus has been stripped out.
- Whether the figure is the account at the date of death or at some later date.
- Whether a fee has been taken before or after the tax question has been settled.
- Whether a settling bet is included, and at what value it was entered.
- Whether the total can be rebuilt from the layers, which is what the table above is for.