How much does probate cost in 2026?
The short answer
- The court fee is £526 if the estate is worth more than £5,000, and nothing if it isn't. Extra sealed copies of the grant are £2 each when ordered with the application, £16 each later.
- Doing it yourself costs about £600–£1,100 all in once you add certificates, copies, a valuation and a creditors' notice.
- A grant-only service costs £585–£1,800: a professional prepares the application, you do everything else.
- Full estate administration by a professional costs £2,700–£5,000 for a simple estate at fixed-fee firms, £4,000–£10,000 at high-street solicitors, and 2.5–2.75% of the estate plus VAT at banks and percentage-fee firms, which on a £400,000 estate is £12,000–£13,000.
- Around half of estates don't need probate at all. Check that before you spend anything: do you need probate?
"How much does probate cost" has two very different answers depending on what you mean. If you mean the fee the court charges, it's £526 and it's the same for everyone. If you mean what it costs to get an estate from a death certificate to money in the beneficiaries' accounts, the honest range runs from a few hundred pounds to tens of thousands, and the single biggest decision is whether you pay someone a percentage of the estate. This guide sets out every number we could find in writing, with the source for each.
The court fee
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Probate application, estate over £5,000 | £526 Since 13 July 2026, previously £300 |
| Probate application, estate £5,000 or less | No fee |
| Extra sealed copies, ordered with the application | £2 each |
| Extra sealed copies, ordered later | £16 each |
| Second grant on the same estate | £22 |
| Help with fees | Available on low income or certain benefits (form EX160). Online applicants pay first and are refunded. |
The fee is the same whether there's a will or not, whether you apply online or on paper, and whether you use a solicitor or do it yourself. Solicitors pass it on as a disbursement, so it appears on their bill in addition to their own fee.
Order more copies than you think you need. Every bank, pension provider, share registrar and insurer wants its own sealed copy, and going back for more costs eight times as much. Eight to ten is normal for an ordinary estate.
Source: GOV.UK, applying for probate: fees.
What doing it yourself really costs
The court fee is the biggest single item, but it isn't the whole bill. This is what an executor handling a typical estate without a professional should expect to pay.
| Item | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Probate application fee | £526 (or £0) | Paid when you apply |
| Sealed copies of the grant | £16–£20 | 8–10 copies at £2 |
| Death certificates | £75–£125 | £12.50 each at registration, £16 later. Order six to ten. |
| Property valuation | £0–£400 | Estate agents' appraisals are usually free. A RICS valuation, sensible if inheritance tax is in play, is typically £150–£400. |
| Statutory creditors' notice | £100–£350 | The Gazette plus a local paper. Optional, but it protects you personally against unknown creditors. |
| Bankruptcy searches on beneficiaries | £2–£8 each | Before paying anyone out |
| Land Registry | £3–£7 per title, £20–£300 to transfer | Only if there's property |
| Postage, ID checks, sundries | £20–£50 | Recorded delivery for the original will |
| Typical total | £600–£1,100 | Lower without property, higher if a formal valuation is needed |
What this doesn't cost is your time, and that's the real price of doing it yourself. A straightforward estate takes an executor somewhere between 40 and 100 hours across six to twelve months, most of it writing to institutions, waiting, and chasing. Executors can reclaim expenses from the estate but not their time.
What professionals charge: real published prices
Since December 2018, every solicitors' firm regulated by the SRA that offers probate has been required to publish its prices on its website. Fixed-fee probate companies and the banks publish theirs too. The table below is taken from those pages, not from estimates. Every figure links to its source and shows the date we checked it. Prices are as published; where a firm quotes "plus VAT" we've added it at 20% so the columns compare like with like.
| Provider | Grant only | Full administration | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Octopus LegacyNational, SRA-regulated | £585 (no IHT forms) £1,290 (with IHT forms) |
From £2,730 | Fixed, VAT included |
| FarewillNational | From £895 | From £2,750 | Fixed, quoted upfront |
| David Gray SolicitorsNewcastle | £1,194 | £3,600–£8,400 typical From £9,600 complex |
Hourly, £162–£396/hr |
| Howells SolicitorsSouth Wales | £1,200 £1,800 with full HMRC account |
About £4,000 average £3,600–£6,000 non-taxable £12,000–£18,000 taxable |
Hourly, £230/hr |
| Probate Solicitors LtdSolihull | About £2,040 (excepted estate) £2,880–£3,600 (full return) |
About £4,680 (excepted, to spouse) £10,740–£10,800 (taxable, to £500k) |
Fixed bands + value element (0.25% property, 0.5% rest) |
| Hugh JamesCardiff, London, Manchester | Not offered separately | 2.75% of gross estate, minimum £3,600 £9,000 on a £250,000 estate, £40,350 on £1.2m (their own examples) |
Percentage + VAT |
| Clarke WillmottNational, seven offices | £3,000 £4,200 with IHT400 |
£5,400–£9,000 straightforward £14,400–£24,000 moderate |
Fixed bands + VAT; £156–£540/hr beyond |
| FreethsNational | Not published | £12,000–£19,800 straightforward £19,800–£42,000 complicated |
Hourly estimate + VAT |
| Lloyds BankEstate Administration Service | £960 service fee | 2.5% of the estate up to £1m, 1.25% above; minimum £2,400 £10,000 + VAT = £12,000 on a £400,000 estate |
Percentage + VAT, paid from the estate at the end |
| NatWestPremier estate administration, delivered by partner firms | Not published | Not published online; fees "usually deducted from the estate" | Ask for the fees leaflet |
| Co-op Legal ServicesNational | Quote only | Quote only; Co-op members save £100 or 5% | Fixed fee, quoted per estate |
Prices checked 8 September 2026 and shown including VAT at 20% unless the provider states otherwise. Providers change prices without notice; treat these as a guide and confirm before instructing anyone.
Three patterns in that table are worth naming.
Grant-only is cheap because it's small. Preparing the application is a few hours of work for someone who does it every day, which is why the national fixed-fee firms charge under £1,300 for it. The high-street and regional firms charge two to three times that for the same document.
Percentage fees punish ordinary estates. A £400,000 estate, a house and some savings, is entirely typical and not complicated. At 2.5–2.75% plus VAT that's £12,000–£13,200, for work a fixed-fee firm would do for £3,000–£5,000. The percentage was designed for a world where the fee had to cover risk on big, messy estates. Applied to a straightforward one it's simply expensive.
The bank is rarely the cheap option. Bank estate services are convenient, and the bank already holds the accounts, but the pricing is percentage-based with a minimum, and the work is often subcontracted to the same law firms you could instruct directly.
Most of what you pay a professional for is not the application. It's the administration: tracing every account, writing to every institution with the right documents, chasing them, reconciling the figures for HMRC, and keeping the deadlines. That is the part Solace does, at a fraction of the fees above, and it's also the part you can do yourself if you have the time.
Two worked examples
The same two estates, costed four ways. Both are ordinary; neither has a dispute, a trust, or assets abroad.
Estate A: a flat and some savings, £180,000
A flat in the deceased's sole name worth £140,000, £40,000 across two bank accounts, a small pension paid out under trust. Two adult children inherit equally. Well under the inheritance tax threshold, so it's an excepted estate and no IHT400 is needed.
| Route | Likely cost | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | £750–£900 | Court fee, copies, certificates, Gazette notice. Your time: 40–60 hours. |
| Grant-only from a fixed-fee firm | £1,100–£1,800 | Application prepared for you; you still value, notify, collect and distribute. |
| Full administration, fixed-fee firm | £3,300–£4,000 | Everything, including the court fee and disbursements. |
| Full administration, high-street solicitor | £4,200–£6,000 | Everything, billed hourly against an estimate. |
| Full administration, bank or 2.5–2.75% firm | £5,900–£6,500 | 2.5% of £180,000 = £4,500 + VAT + disbursements. |
Estate B: a house and investments, £650,000
A house worth £520,000, £130,000 in ISAs and shares, two children inherit, and the deceased was a widower whose late wife left everything to him. Their combined allowances mean little or no tax is due, but claiming the transferred residence allowance needs a full IHT400, so this is not an excepted estate.
| Route | Likely cost | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | £1,000–£1,300 | As above plus a RICS valuation and share valuations. Your time: 80–120 hours, and an IHT400 to complete. |
| Grant-only from a fixed-fee firm | £1,800–£3,000 | IHT400 and application prepared; the rest is yours. |
| Full administration, fixed-fee firm | £4,500–£7,000 | Quoted on the estate; the IHT400 adds to the price. |
| Full administration, high-street solicitor | £9,000–£15,000 | Firms treat any IHT400 estate as "taxable" for pricing, even where no tax is due. |
| Full administration, bank or 2.5–2.75% firm | £20,000–£22,500 | 2.5% of £650,000 = £16,250 + VAT + disbursements. |
The gap between the cheapest and dearest professional route on Estate B is around £17,000, on an estate with no tax to pay and no complications. That gap is the fee model, not the work.
Estimate the cost for your estate
Probate cost estimator
Rough figures for England and Wales, using the published prices above. Nothing you enter leaves this page.
These are estimates from published price lists, not quotes, and they don't include inheritance tax itself. Not sure the estate needs probate at all? Check first, or tell us about the estate and we'll say what it actually needs.
Grant-only or full administration?
Professional probate services come in two sizes, and the difference explains most of the price difference.
Grant-only means someone prepares the application and, where needed, the inheritance tax account, and obtains the grant for you. You do everything before it (valuing the estate) and everything after it (collecting assets, paying debts, distributing). It costs £585–£1,800 at fixed-fee firms and £1,200–£4,200 at solicitors. It suits an executor who's comfortable with the admin but wants the legal document done properly, or who's nervous about the IHT forms.
Full estate administration means the firm does the whole thing, start to finish, and its fee reflects months of correspondence rather than a form. It's the right choice where the executor genuinely can't do the work, where there's a dispute brewing, or where the estate is large and complicated enough that a mistake would cost more than the fee.
There's a legal reason the split exists. Preparing the papers for a grant of probate for a fee is a "reserved legal activity" under the Legal Services Act 2007: only regulated professionals, such as solicitors, can do it. Everything else in administering an estate, from valuing assets to writing to banks to distributing money, is not reserved, and anyone can help with it. That's why unregulated estate administration services exist, and why they either help you make the application yourself or pass that one step to a regulated partner.
Costs that arrive at the same time
None of these is "probate", but they all land on the executor in the same few months and they're what most people are really asking about.
- Inheritance tax. 40% on the value above the allowances (£325,000, plus up to £175,000 for a home left to children or grandchildren, plus anything unused from a late spouse). Where tax is due it has to be paid, or an instalment arranged, before the grant is issued.
- The funeral. Typically £1,500 for a direct cremation to £4,500 and up for an attended service. It's the first call on the estate, and banks will usually pay the funeral director's invoice directly from the deceased's account before probate.
- Selling the property. Estate agent (1–2%), conveyancing (£1,000–£2,000), energy performance certificate, and council tax and insurance on an empty house while it sells. Empty because of a death, the property is exempt from council tax until probate and for six months after.
- House clearance. £300–£1,500 depending on size.
- Executor's expenses. Travel, postage, valuations and the court fee are reclaimable from the estate. Keep every receipt; beneficiaries are entitled to see them.
The full list of dates that go with these is in executor deadlines: every date that matters.
Who pays, and when
Everything on this page is ultimately paid by the estate, not by the executor personally. In practice the timing is awkward: the court fee and the first disbursements fall due before there's a grant, and without a grant the accounts are frozen.
- The court fee can usually be paid directly from the deceased's bank account. Most banks will settle the probate fee, and the funeral, on production of the invoice or application reference. Ask the bereavement team.
- If you pay anything yourself, record it and reclaim it from the estate before distribution. It's an expense of the administration and ranks ahead of the beneficiaries.
- Professional fees at fixed-fee firms are usually paid from the estate when funds are collected; some ask for the grant-only fee upfront. Banks and percentage-fee firms take their fee at the end.
- If the estate can't pay, it's insolvent and there's a strict statutory order of payment: funeral and administration costs first, then secured and preferential creditors, then everyone else. Take advice before paying anyone, because an executor who pays in the wrong order can be personally liable.
Common questions
Is there a probate fee if the estate is under £5,000?
No. In England and Wales the application fee is £526 for estates over £5,000 and nothing for estates of £5,000 or less. Extra sealed copies of the grant cost £2 each when ordered with the application.
Can the probate fee be paid from the estate?
Yes, and usually before the grant is issued. Most banks will pay the probate application fee, and the funeral director's invoice, directly from the deceased's account if you send them the invoice or application reference. If you pay it yourself, reclaim it from the estate as an administration expense before distributing anything.
How much do solicitors charge for probate?
Published prices in 2026 range from about £1,200 for a grant-only service at a regional firm to £4,000–£10,000 for full administration of a straightforward estate, and £12,000–£25,000 or more where an inheritance tax return is needed. Firms charge either a fixed fee, an hourly rate (typically £160–£540 an hour including VAT) or a percentage of the estate, most often 1–3% plus VAT. Every SRA-regulated firm must publish its probate prices on its website.
How much do banks charge for probate?
Bank estate administration services are priced as a percentage of the estate. Lloyds, for example, publishes 2.5% of the estate up to £1 million and 1.25% above that, with a £2,000 minimum, plus VAT, taken from the estate when the administration finishes. On a £400,000 estate that's £12,000 including VAT. Some banks don't publish their fees online and will send a leaflet on request.
Do I pay VAT on probate fees?
Not on the court fee. Professional fees from solicitors, probate companies and banks carry VAT at 20%, and firms are required to state whether their published prices include it. Disbursements such as valuations and statutory notices may carry VAT too.
What does a fixed-fee probate service include?
It depends on the tier. A grant-only service prepares the application and any inheritance tax account and obtains the grant; you value the estate, notify institutions, collect and distribute. A full estate administration service does all of that for you. Court fees and disbursements are normally charged on top, so check whether a headline price includes the £526.
Can I claim executor expenses back from the estate?
Yes. Reasonable expenses of administering the estate, including the court fee, death certificates, valuations, postage and travel, are paid by the estate before the beneficiaries receive anything. Keep receipts, because beneficiaries are entitled to see the estate accounts. Executors cannot charge for their time unless the will allows it or they are a professional.
Do I need a solicitor for probate?
No. Executors can apply directly through GOV.UK or on paper, and around half of applications are made without a professional. A solicitor is worth considering where there is a dispute, a trust in the will, assets abroad, an insolvent estate, or an inheritance tax position you're not confident about. For an ordinary estate, most of what you'd pay for is administration rather than legal work.
Is the probate fee different in Scotland or Northern Ireland?
Yes. This page covers England and Wales. Scotland has a separate process called confirmation, applied for through the sheriff court with its own fee scale, and Northern Ireland has its own Probate Office and fees.
Related guides
Important
Solace is not a firm of solicitors and does not provide legal, tax or financial advice. We are an estate administration service and we are not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Financial Conduct Authority or any equivalent body. Nothing in this guide constitutes legal, tax or financial advice, and no solicitor–client relationship is created by reading it.
This article is general information only. It reflects the position in England and Wales at the date shown above; the law and the figures change, and Scotland and Northern Ireland differ in important respects. Third-party prices are quoted from those providers' published price lists on the date shown and may have changed; Solace has no commercial relationship with any provider named on this page. It may not apply to your circumstances. Administering an estate carries personal legal responsibility, and you should obtain advice from a qualified solicitor, accountant or other regulated professional where appropriate. Always check current rates, fees and deadlines against GOV.UK before acting.