How Much Does an Inheritance Tax Adviser Cost?
Most IHT advisers charge between 0.5% and 2% of your net estate value for a full plan. On a £500,000 estate, that means £2,500 to £10,000. Solicitor hourly rates run £200 to £579 plus VAT depending on seniority and location, while IFAs often offer fixed-fee packages for simpler estates.
At a glance: who does what, and what it costs.
| Professional | How they charge | Typical cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solicitor | Hourly or fixed | £200–£579/hr +VAT | Wills, trusts, probate, IHT400 |
| IFA | % of assets or fixed project fee | 0.5–2%, min £1,500–£3,000 | Investments, gifting, life cover in trust |
| Will-writer | Fixed | £50–£300 | A simple will only |
Solicitors charge either a flat fee or an hourly rate. Hourly rates in England and Wales range from £200 to £579 per hour plus VAT, depending on the fee earner’s grade and location. Completing an IHT return for HMRC as part of probate can add £877 to £1,169 plus VAT on top of general probate fees.
Independent financial advisers (IFAs) usually charge an initial consultation fee, sometimes free, followed by an ongoing percentage of assets managed or a fixed project fee. For complex estates, setup costs can run into the thousands, but the IHT savings often far exceed those fees.
A basic will costs £200 to £500 at a solicitor, or £50 to £300 through a specialist will-writing service. A more complex will incorporating trusts or IHT planning will cost more.
Before paying for IHT planning advice, check that the adviser is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
What Do Different Fee Structures Look Like in Practice?
Solicitor guideline hourly rates updated in January 2026 range from £200 for a Grade C fee earner outside London to £579 for a Grade A solicitor in central London (Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, Guideline Hourly Rates 2026). Most inheritance work falls to Grade B or C practitioners outside central London, so realistic hourly rates sit between £200 and £262.
Some firms offer a “loss leader” initial consultation, sometimes free or capped at £250, to assess whether you need a full plan. This can be a sensible first step if you are unsure whether your estate even exceeds the IHT threshold.
Is IHT Planning Worth the Cost?
HMRC collected £8.2 billion in inheritance tax in 2024/25, up 10% on the previous year (HMRC, April 2025). The nil-rate band has been frozen at £325,000 since 2009 and will remain frozen until at least April 2031, meaning more families are pulled into the IHT net each year as property values rise. Proper planning that secures the residence nil-rate band (£175,000) and uses legitimate gifting strategies could reduce or eliminate that liability entirely. Even paying £5,000 in adviser fees to save £150,000 delivers a 30:1 return.
The FCA requires that any adviser giving inheritance tax specialist advice involving investments must be authorised and regulated. Always verify your adviser’s FCA registration number before proceeding.
How to Compare Advisers and Keep Costs Down
Check qualifications beyond basic FCA authorisation. A STEP-qualified adviser (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) has specialist training in estate planning and trusts. Chartered Financial Planners have passed additional exams beyond the Level 4 minimum.
If your estate is below £650,000 (the combined nil-rate band for couples), a solicitor handling your will may be able to include basic IHT advice within a fixed will-writing fee of £500 to £1,500. You may not need a separate IHT specialist at all.
Not sure which adviser you actually need?
Talk it through with Ade for a fixed-fee quote and a free consultation.
Talk to AdeFree Advice and Paid Advice: Where the Free Line Stops
A free first conversation is worth having. It should tell you whether your estate is likely to face a bill at all, roughly how large that bill would be, and which reliefs you may already qualify for. Most specialists offer it because it costs them an hour and tells them whether you are worth quoting for.
What a free conversation will not do is model your actual position. Nobody builds a gifting timeline, a trust structure or a residence nil-rate band calculation for nothing, because that work takes days and carries professional liability. The line almost always falls at the point where someone has to put a recommendation in writing with their name on it.
A useful test before you pay anything: if the meeting ends with a written summary of what you should do and why, you were advised. If it ends with a proposal for further work, you were quoted. Both are reasonable. Only one of them is free.
How Maximum Inheritance Prices Inheritance Tax Work
Ade quotes a fixed fee before any work begins. You see the number, what it covers and what it does not, and it does not move afterwards because a case turned out to take longer than expected.
There is no call centre and no rota of case handlers. The person who reviews your estate is the person you speak to about it afterwards, which matters more than it sounds when the subject is your family's money and the answers take months to play out.
Probate fees are published up front on the probate cost page. Inheritance tax planning is quoted per case, because what the work involves depends entirely on what you own and how it is held. Either way, the quote comes before the work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is inheritance tax advice worth paying for?
It depends on whether your estate is likely to be taxed at all. Above the combined £650,000 nil-rate band available to a married couple or civil partners, every £1,000 left exposed costs your beneficiaries £400. Advice that moves £100,000 out of the taxable estate has saved £40,000, which is several times what most planning work costs. Below the threshold, a properly drafted will may be all you need.
Do you have to pay for inheritance tax advice?
The first conversation is normally free. Anything that produces a written recommendation is normally charged, either as a fixed fee, an hourly rate, or a percentage of the assets under advice.
How much does it cost to reduce inheritance tax?
For a straightforward estate under £500,000 with one property and standard savings, expect £1,500 to £3,000 for a review and a written plan. Estates above £1 million involving business assets, several properties or overseas holdings usually need ongoing involvement, charged at 0.5% to 1% of assets under advice each year.
Are inheritance tax advisers regulated?
Anyone advising on investments as part of inheritance tax planning must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, and you can check any firm against the FCA register before you commit. Estate planning that does not touch investments is not itself a regulated activity, which is why qualifications carry weight here: STEP membership and Chartered Financial Planner status both require specific exams in this field.
Last updated 22 July 2026. Guideline hourly rates are the figures published by the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, effective 1 January 2026.
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