How Much Does a Solicitor Charge for Probate? UK Fees, 2026

Solicitors price probate three ways: a fixed fee, an hourly rate, or a percentage of the estate, most commonly between 1% and 5% of its value. On a £400,000 estate, a 2% charge comes to £8,000 before VAT and before the court fee. The court application fee is separate and currently £526 for estates over £5,000. The fixed-fee alternative is a probate specialist rather than a solicitor: I handle full estate administration for £1,880, agreed in writing before any work starts.

Almost every quote you receive will use one of these three models. The difference between them on the same estate can run to thousands of pounds.

Some firms combine two of them, typically a percentage plus an hourly element for anything they class as unusual. That is the arrangement worth reading twice.

Take an estate of £400,000, which in most of the South East means a house and a couple of accounts. At 2% the fee is £8,000. At 3% it is £12,000. Add VAT and the court fee on top of either.

The same estate handled on a fixed fee of £1,880 leaves £6,120 more in the estate at 2%, and £10,120 more at 3%. That money goes to the beneficiaries instead.

The reason the percentage model is hard to defend is that the work does not scale with the value. Administering a £1 million estate holding one house and three accounts is not five times the work of a £200,000 estate holding one house and three accounts. It is close to identical work. A percentage fee charges you for the size of the number on the valuation, not for the hours anyone spent.

Whoever handles your probate, the court charges its own application fee. It is £526 where the estate is worth more than £5,000, and there is no fee at all where the estate is £5,000 or less (gov.uk, applying for probate: fees).

Extra copies of the grant cost £2 each if you order them with the application, and £16 each afterwards. Order the copies you need up front. Banks, registrars and share registrars will each want to see one, and buying them later costs eight times as much.

If a quote you receive does not mention the court fee separately, ask where it sits. It is a disbursement, not part of anyone's professional fee.

Quotes are not comparable until you know which of these you are being quoted for.

Grant only means someone prepares and submits the application and hands you the grant. You then do the rest yourself: closing accounts, selling or transferring the property, settling debts, preparing estate accounts and distributing what is left.

Full estate administration means all of that is handled for you, from the application through to the final distribution and the estate accounts.

A grant-only price compared against a full-administration price will always look cheaper, because it is a fraction of the work. My published fees for both are on the probate cost page.

• VAT. Professional fees carry VAT at 20%. A quote of £5,000 plus VAT is £6,000.
• Disbursements. The court fee, office copies, bankruptcy searches, statutory advertisements and property valuations. These are real costs and should be listed, not bundled vaguely.
• Value bands. Some fixed-fee quotes are fixed only within an estate-value band, and step up if the valuation lands a pound over the line.
• Property. Selling or transferring a house is usually conveyancing, charged separately from the probate work.
• Inheritance tax work. Ask whether completing a full IHT account is inside the fee or billed on top. It is a substantial piece of work either way.

Ask for the total, in writing, including VAT and disbursements. Any professional who cannot give you that has not scoped your estate properly.

Normally, yes. Probate costs are an expense of administering the estate and are paid from estate funds before anything is distributed to the beneficiaries. Executors are not expected to fund it personally.

The practical problem is timing. Accounts are often frozen until the grant arrives, so the court fee in particular can fall due before the estate has released any money. Many banks will release funds directly to the Probate Registry for that fee on request, and a funeral account is usually treated the same way. It is worth asking your bank early rather than paying it yourself and reclaiming later.

Waiting times have improved considerably. HMCTS figures for May 2026 put the average time from submitting an application to the grant being issued at around 6 weeks overall, and 4.1 weeks for digital applications.

The number that matters more is what happens when an application is stopped for a query. Stopped digital applications averaged 13.7 weeks, more than three times the normal digital wait. Nearly all stops come from avoidable errors on the form or missing documents, which is the single strongest argument for having someone who does this daily prepare the application.

Those figures cover the grant only. Administering the estate afterwards takes longer, and how much longer depends on whether there is a property to sell and whether inheritance tax is due.

I am a probate specialist, not a solicitor, and I have been doing this for more than 35 years. Full estate administration is £1,880. You get the number before the work starts and it does not move because a case took longer than I expected.

There is no call centre and no file-handler rota. You speak to me, and I am the person doing the work. On a matter that runs for months and concerns your family's money, knowing who is holding it matters.

If your estate is straightforward and you are willing to do the legwork yourself, the grant-only route may be all you need. If you would rather hand the whole thing over, full administration covers it end to end. Both prices are published on the probate cost page.

How much does a solicitor charge to administer an estate?

Most commonly between 1% and 5% of the estate's value, or an hourly rate, or a fixed fee for a defined scope. On a £400,000 estate a 2% charge is £8,000 before VAT and the separate court fee.

Do solicitors charge a percentage for probate?

Many do. Ask whether the percentage is calculated on the gross estate or the net estate after debts, because gross always produces the larger bill, and ask whether an hourly element is charged on top for anything treated as non-standard.

Is it cheaper to do probate yourself?

In pure cash terms, yes: you pay only the £526 court fee. Whether it is the right choice depends on the estate. A single property, a couple of accounts and no inheritance tax is manageable for most executors. Business assets, trusts, an estate facing inheritance tax, or a family who disagree are where mistakes become expensive, and executors are personally liable for those mistakes.

What is the court fee for probate?

£526 for estates over £5,000, and nothing for estates of £5,000 or less. Extra copies of the grant are £2 each ordered with the application and £16 each afterwards.

Are probate fees paid from the estate?

Yes, normally. They are an administration expense settled from estate funds before beneficiaries receive anything. The timing can be awkward, because accounts may be frozen until the grant is issued, but most banks will release money for the court fee directly to the Probate Registry.

Last updated 22 July 2026. Court fees from gov.uk. Waiting times from HMCTS published figures for May 2026.