Probate fees

The court fee to apply for probate is £526 if the estate is worth more than £5,000, and nothing if it's £5,000 or less. It rose from £300 on 13 July 2026. Extra copies of the grant cost £2 each if you order them with the application.

Fees checked 11 October 2026 · gov.uk: probate fees

Work out your probate fees

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Probate court fees

Source: gov.uk, checked 11 October 2026. The law sets the fee where “where the assessed value of the estate exceeds £5,000”, in the Non-Contentious Probate Fees Order 2004.

Copies ordered later cost £16 each against £2 with the application, so it pays to count the organisations you'll send the grant to before you apply.

How the probate fee has changed

£526 is 75% more than the £300 it replaced. The government says the rise is “to achieve a greater level of cost recovery”, and no public consultation was held on it. The same fee has applied whoever applies since 26 January 2022.

Help with the fee

If you have a low income or get certain benefits, you may be able to get help paying the application fee. Apply for help with fees online or on form EX160 before you apply for probate. If you apply for probate online, you pay the full fee and get a refund if help is granted. Help doesn't cover copies.

Source: gov.uk, checked 11 October 2026.

What paying a solicitor adds

The Legal Services Board, which oversees legal regulators, asked 401 firms in September to November 2024 what they would charge for an uncontested £310,000 estate with a valid will (a home, cash and investments). These are the prices they quoted, before VAT and outside costs such as search fees.

Source: Legal Services Board, Prices of individual consumer legal services 2024, figures 51 to 54. The report gives two different averages for dealing with the estate, so we show the median and middle half only. 62% of firms said they publish their prices online.

Some firms charge a percentage of the estate. MoneyHelper, the government-backed guidance service, says that's usually 1% to 5%, plus VAT. On a £250,000 estate that's £2,500 to £12,500. Banks charge this way too: Lloyds Bank publishes 2.5% of the estate up to £1,000,000, with a £2,000 minimum, which is £6,250 plus VAT on the same estate.

Solicitors have to publish their prices for uncontested probate where all the assets are in the UK, so you can compare firms before you choose one. Ask whether the price is fixed, and what it leaves out.

When paying for help is worth it

For a simple estate, gov.uk points out that applying yourself can be cheaper. Paying a solicitor or other probate practitioner earns its keep when the estate is disputed, when someone has entered a caveat, or when there's a trust, property abroad, a business, or Inheritance Tax to work out. Preparing probate papers for a fee is a reserved legal activity, so the firm has to be authorised to do it. Ask which regulator it answers to.

Inheritance Tax is separate

None of these fees include Inheritance Tax. If the estate owes any, you'll normally have to start paying it before probate is granted. See whether you need probate and how long it takes.