What is the Probate Registry fee in 2026?

The Probate Registry fee for a grant of probate in England and Wales is £526 for estates over £5,000, raised from £300 on 13 July 2026, payable regardless of whether you use a solicitor or apply yourself. Estates valued at £5,000 or under pay nothing. Copies of the grant requested with the application cost £2 each (£16 each if requested later). The fee is set by the Non-Contentious Probate Fees Order 2004, as amended by the Court and Tribunal Fees (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2026.

Is fixed fee or percentage probate cheaper?

Fixed fee is almost always cheaper for estates over £200,000. Percentage charges (typically 1 to 4 per cent of estate value) are aimed at bank-owned probate services and can run to £20,000+ on a £500,000 estate, well above the £3,000 to £6,000 a high-street solicitor would charge on a fixed-fee basis. Always get at least three written quotes and ask explicitly whether the firm charges fixed fee, hourly, or percentage.

Can I do probate without a solicitor?

Yes, for straightforward estates. The Probate Registry online service at gov.uk/applying-for-probate handles most simple applications. DIY probate is viable where there is a valid will, the estate is UK-based, there is no IHT to pay (or only a small amount via the residence nil-rate band), there is no dispute, and you have time to handle bank closures and asset transfers yourself. Most simple estates can be completed in 3-6 months of part-time work.

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Wills & Probate

Probate Cost UK 2026

£526 Probate Registry fee. £1,500 to £10,000+ in solicitor fees on a fixed-fee model, or 1 to 4 per cent of estate value on a percentage model. Updated October 2026.

Probate cost estimator

England and Wales. Figures from GOV.UK, HMCTS and firms' own published price pages, read 15 October 2026. Nothing you enter is stored.

1. Is a grant of probate needed?

Did they own a property in their sole name, or as tenants in common?

A home owned as joint tenants passes to the other owner without a grant. The Land Registry title shows a Form A restriction for tenants in common.

Is any single account or investment above that provider's limit for releasing money without a grant?

There is no legal threshold; each provider sets its own. Published examples: Barclays, Lloyds, Halifax, NatWest, Santander, Nationwide, TSB, Co-operative Bank, Tesco Bank £50,000; Virgin Money £35,000; Post Office, Skipton and Yorkshire building societies £30,000; Sainsbury's Bank, Chase, Metro £25,000; First Direct £20,000; Starling £10,000; NS&I, Monzo, Revolut, M&S Bank £5,000 (Farewill, reviewed 10 May 2024; Anglia Research, May 2025. HSBC and RBS decide case by case.). Ask each provider.

Was everything else held jointly with a surviving spouse, civil partner or co-owner?

It depends on the answers above. Check the title for any property and ask each bank or investment provider for its limit; if any one of them needs a grant, the whole estate goes through probate.

2. Can you apply yourself?

Is there a will?

Does any of this apply?

Each one takes the estate outside the simple online route, either because a full inheritance tax account is required or because a mistake is expensive.

Gifts worth over £250,000 in the seven years before death, or a gift they kept using (a gift with reservation)Assets held in trust worth over £250,000, or more than one trustForeign assets worth over £100,000, or property abroadA business, farm or agricultural propertyDebts may exceed the assetsA spouse, child, cohabitant or dependant has been left out or left littleDoubts about the person's mental capacity, or pressure on them, when the will was madeThe death was before 1 January 2022

Straightforward: the GOV.UK online service handles this. With a valid, undisputed will, no inheritance tax expected and none of the complications above, most people can apply themselves. The cost is the court fee below.

3. What it costs

Gross estate value (£)Copies of the grantOne per bank or asset holder

Home left to children or grandchildren A spouse or civil partner died first and left their allowance unused Death on or after 6 April 2027

What you pay the court

Probate application fee (estate over £5,000)	£526
3 copies of the grant, ordered with the application	£6
Do it yourself on GOV.UK	£532

No inheritance tax expected. £350,000 is under the £500,000 threshold for this estate (£325,000 nil-rate band plus £175,000 where the home goes to children or grandchildren, frozen until 5 April 2031). An excepted estate: no IHT400, the values go on the probate application.

Sources: gov.uk/applying-for-probate/fees; gov.uk/inheritance-tax; gov.uk/valuing-estate-of-someone-who-died. Read 15 October 2026.

If you instruct a firm

Grant only, firms in our data n = 1180	£995 to £2,500 + VAT
median £1,500 + VAT
Full estate administration our estimate	£3,000 to £6,000 + VAT
Percentage model, 1% to 2% of the estate	£3,500 to £7,000 + VAT
Time to grant (HMCTS, January to March 2026)	about 5 weeks
about 2 weeks for a correct digital application; 14 weeks if HMCTS stops it for more information; about 16 weeks on paper

Grant-only figures are the lower quartile, median and upper quartile of 1180 grant-only prices published by SRA firms, read from their own price pages in October 2026. The full-administration band is our own model, not a market figure; the firms below are the check. Percentage convention: Law Society guidance cited in HMRC manual CG30550; some firms charge up to 5%.

Firms near you that publish a probate price

1047 SRA-regulated firms in our data publish a probate price on their own website (data read 20 October 2026). Enter a postcode to see the nearest, with each figure exactly as the firm printed it. No firm paid to appear.

Apply yourself on GOV.UK Get quotes from regulated firms near you

Indicative only. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. The percentage and full-administration lines show what each pricing model would cost on this estate so you can compare quotes; always get a firm's price in writing.

The estimator has its own page with the method and every source: probate cost calculator.

What probate costs in 2026

Estate value	Probate Registry fee	Typical solicitor fixed fee
Under £5,000	Free	£500 to £1,000 + VAT
£5,000 to £250,000	£526	£1,500 to £3,500 + VAT
£250,000 to £500,000	£526	£3,000 to £6,000 + VAT
£500,000 to £1,000,000	£526	£4,500 to £8,000 + VAT
£1,000,000+ (IHT liable)	£526	£6,000 to £15,000+ + VAT

Sources: Probate Registry fee schedule (gov.uk). Solicitor fixed-fee ranges by estate size are our own model built from the Guideline Hourly Rates and the work stages a grant application involves, not a published market figure; firms that advertise uncontested probate must publish their own price under the SRA Transparency Rules, and reading one is the way to check a quote.

Raised to £526 on 13 July 2026. HMCTS increased the probate application fee for estates over £5,000 from £300 to £526 on 13 July 2026, a 75% rise. Estates of £5,000 or under stay free. Copies of the grant ordered with the application cost £2 each.

Three solicitor pricing models for probate

Fixed fee. A defined price for a defined scope. Usually the best value for estates over £200,000. Confirms what is and is not included (additional work clause typically charged at the firm's hourly rate). The figures in the table above are typical fixed-fee ranges.
Hourly rate. Solicitor time charged at the Guideline Hourly Rates (£200/hr to £305/hr Grade C for National 2 and London 1 respectively, see hourly rates). Suitable for unusual estates where scope is hard to define upfront, but ask for a cost estimate and a cost cap.
Percentage of estate. 1 to 4 per cent of gross estate value, often used by bank-owned probate services and some larger firms. Generally poor value for medium and large estates -- on a £500,000 estate, 3 per cent is £15,000, well above the typical £4,500 to £8,000 fixed fee from a high-street firm.

What the solicitor actually does

A typical probate instruction covers:

Valuing the estate (property, bank accounts, investments, chattels, debts).
Completing the IHT400 full account where one is needed, or reporting the excepted-estate values in the probate application itself (deaths from 1 January 2022; the IHT205 form no longer applies).
Applying for the grant of probate at the Probate Registry.
Collecting in the estate assets (closing bank accounts, selling shares, transferring property).
Paying debts, taxes, and beneficiaries.
Preparing estate accounts for beneficiaries.

Tasks that fall outside the fixed fee scope (and are usually billed separately) include disputed will challenges, tracing missing beneficiaries, dealing with overseas assets, and protracted property sales.

IHT thresholds 2026

Nil-rate band (NRB): £325,000 per person, frozen until 5 April 2031 (Autumn Budget 2025).
Residence nil-rate band (RNRB): £175,000 per person where a residence is left to direct descendants, tapering for estates over £2 million; also frozen until 5 April 2031.
Pensions from 6 April 2027: most unused pension funds and death benefits count towards the estate for inheritance tax on deaths on or after that date, and the personal representatives report and pay the tax on them (HMRC policy paper, 26 November 2025).
Spousal exemption: Unlimited transfers to a UK-domiciled spouse or civil partner. Unused NRB and RNRB can be transferred to the surviving spouse, giving a combined potential threshold of £1 million.
Rate of IHT above the threshold: 40% (reduced to 36% if 10%+ of the estate is left to charity).

Source: HMRC Inheritance Tax thresholds (gov.uk).

DIY probate

The Probate Registry online service at gov.uk/applying-for-probate walks executors through a simple online application. DIY probate is feasible where:

There is a valid will and no dispute over its validity.
The estate is UK-based with no overseas assets.
The estate is an excepted estate (no IHT) or only a small IHT liability.
Beneficiaries are in agreement.
You have time to handle the practical work (bank closures take weeks per institution).

The total DIY cost is the £526 Probate Registry fee plus any IHT due, with no solicitor fee. Even on a £500,000 estate, DIY is realistic if the assets are straightforward.

Timeline

From the date of death, a straightforward probate typically takes 6 to 12 months. HMCTS issued grants in about 5 weeks on average from submission in January to March 2026 (median one week): about 2 weeks for a correct digital application, 14 weeks if the application is stopped for more information, and about 16 weeks on paper. Bank account closures and asset transfers usually take a further 1 to 3 months. Complex estates with IHT liabilities, property sales, or overseas assets can take 18 months to 3 years.

Source: Family Court Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2026 (published 25 June 2026) and HMCTS management information to May 2026.