Probate cost calculator
The court fee is fixed. Everything else is a choice - and the gap between the cheapest and dearest way of doing identical work runs into thousands. Compare all five routes on your estate.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-23 · England & Wales
£526 application fee + £8 for copies. Every route below includes this.
Doing it yourself costs £534. The most expensive route (bank or trust corporation) costs £15,134 - for the same legal outcome.
You apply for the grant and administer the estate. You pay only the court fee and copies.
A provider obtains the grant of probate; you collect the assets and distribute the estate yourself. (£900 fee + £534 court)
A provider handles the whole estate for an agreed price, whatever the estate is worth. (£3,100 fee + £534 court)
A traditional solicitor charging around 2.5% of the estate value for full administration. (£9,350 fee + £534 court)
Banks named as executor typically charge around 4% of the estate, often with a minimum fee. (£14,600 fee + £534 court)
Court fee verified against GOV.UK, July 2026: £526 for estates over £5,000 (raised from £300 on 13 July 2026). Professional fees are typical market rates for comparison, not quotes - always get at least three written quotes. Excludes conveyancing, valuations, Gazette notices and tax. England & Wales only. Educational, not legal advice.
Sorting out an estate? Get the will and LPA right first.
Most probate cost is avoidable. A properly drafted will - and a Lasting Power of Attorney while there is still capacity - saves families far more than any probate service.
What the probate fee actually is
In England and Wales there is a single flat court fee to apply for a grant of probate (or letters of administration where there is no will): £526 for any estate worth more than £5,000, and nothing at all for estates at or below that. It does not scale with the size of the estate - a £6,000 estate and a £6m estate pay exactly the same £526.
That fee rose from £300 on 13 July 2026, an increase of 75%. Many guides, and even some law firm websites, still quote the old £300 figure - so if you have been given that number, it is out of date.
Why the routes differ so much
The work of administering an estate is largely the same regardless of who does it: value the assets, complete the application, pay any inheritance tax, collect the money, settle debts, distribute to beneficiaries and keep accounts. What changes dramatically is how that work is priced.
- Doing it yourself costs the court fee and your time. For a straightforward estate this is entirely realistic - the GOV.UK application is designed for lay executors.
- Fixed-fee providers charge a set price whatever the estate is worth, typically around £900 for grant-only (they get the grant, you do the rest) or £2,500 for full administration.
- Percentage-based solicitors charge 1-5% of the estate, sometimes plus hourly costs. The percentage is a pricing convention, not a measure of complexity.
- Banks and trust corporations named as executor commonly charge around 4%, often with a substantial minimum. This is usually the most expensive option available.
Before you accept any quote
- Check whether you need probate at all. Assets held as joint tenants pass automatically to the survivor, and many banks release balances under their own small-estates limit without a grant. Use our do-I-need-probate checker first.
- Get three written fixed-fee quotes. Ask specifically for a fixed fee, not a percentage, and confirm what is excluded (conveyancing and tax work usually are).
- If a bank is named as executor, ask it to renounce. A professional executor that has not yet intermeddled in the estate can step aside, and many will if asked.
- Order enough copies of the grant with the application at £2 each rather than £16 each later.
Frequently asked questions
How much does probate cost in the UK?
The only unavoidable cost is the court application fee: £526 in England and Wales for any estate over £5,000, and nothing for estates of £5,000 or less. That fee rose from £300 on 13 July 2026. Beyond that, everything is optional. Doing it yourself costs just the court fee plus £2 per extra copy of the grant. Fixed-fee providers charge roughly £900 for a grant-only service or around £2,500 for full administration. Solicitors charging a percentage of the estate typically take 1-5%, and banks acting as executor around 4% - so on a £500,000 estate a percentage-based fee can be £20,000 for work that costs £526 to do yourself.
Is it cheaper to do probate yourself?
Almost always, and often by a very large margin. There is no legal requirement to use a solicitor to apply for probate. For a typical estate - a valid will, a few bank accounts, a house passing to the obvious beneficiary and no inheritance tax to pay - the application is a form you complete online at GOV.UK. The saving is not marginal: on a £400,000 estate, the difference between the £526 court fee and a 4% bank executor fee is around £16,000. What you are buying with professional help is time and liability cover, not a different outcome. Paying for help makes more sense when the estate is taxable, contested, includes business or foreign assets, or when you simply do not want the administrative burden while grieving.
Why do solicitors charge a percentage of the estate?
It is a pricing convention rather than a reflection of the work involved. Administering a £1m estate of three bank accounts and a house is not meaningfully harder than administering a £200,000 estate of the same shape, but a percentage fee charges five times as much for it. Some firms also add an hourly element on top of the percentage. The Legal Ombudsman has repeatedly criticised unclear probate pricing, and the SRA now requires firms to publish price information. The practical answer is to always request a fixed-fee quote and compare at least three providers - including fixed-fee specialists, not only high-street solicitors.
What if a bank is named as executor in the will?
Banks and trust corporations named as executor typically charge around 4% of the estate, sometimes with a minimum fee of several thousand pounds, which makes them usually the most expensive route available. You are not necessarily stuck with it. A professional executor can renounce probate if it has not yet "intermeddled" in the estate, and many will agree to step aside if the family asks - particularly if the will also names family executors. It is always worth writing to ask before accepting the quote. If the bank refuses to renounce, you can still negotiate the fee, and you should get comparison quotes to negotiate with.
How many copies of the grant of probate should I order?
More than you think, and order them with your application. Extra copies cost £2 each when ordered at the same time as the application but £16 each afterwards - eight times the price. Count every institution holding an asset (each bank, each investment provider, the share registrar, the pension scheme, the insurer) and add two or three spare. Institutions want to see a certified copy and many will not return it promptly, so having several in circulation at once speeds the whole administration up. Ordering ten copies costs £20 up front versus £160 if you order them later.
Does the estate pay the probate fees, or do I?
The costs of administering the estate, including the court fee and any professional fees, are paid out of the estate - not out of the executor's own pocket. The practical difficulty is timing: you often need to pay the £526 fee before the grant is issued, and the grant is what unlocks the money. Some banks will release funds directly to HMCTS or to HMRC for inheritance tax under the direct payment scheme before the grant, so ask. If you pay costs personally in the meantime, keep every receipt: you are entitled to reimburse yourself from the estate before distributing it to beneficiaries.
Are there extra costs beyond the probate fee?
Usually a few, and they are worth budgeting for: certified copies of the death certificate (a few pounds each at registration), property valuations for inheritance tax purposes, conveyancing if a house is being sold or transferred, statutory advertisements in the London Gazette and a local paper (around £200-£300, which protects executors against unknown creditors), estate agent fees, house clearance, and possibly an accountant for the deceased's final tax return. On a straightforward estate with a property, £500-£1,500 of these incidental costs is typical on top of the court fee.
Is probate cheaper in Scotland or Northern Ireland?
The systems are different rather than simply cheaper or dearer. Scotland uses "confirmation" rather than probate, applied for through the sheriff court, with fees banded by estate value - and no fee for small estates under £50,000, which is considerably more generous than the £5,000 threshold in England and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own Probate Office with a separate fee scale. This calculator and the £526 figure apply to England and Wales only; if the deceased was domiciled in Scotland or Northern Ireland, check the relevant court service for current fees.