The official cost of probate in England and Wales is a court fee of £526 if the estate is worth more than £5,000, and nothing if it is worth £5,000 or less. That fee rose from £300 on 13 July 2026. Official copies of the grant cost £2 each if ordered with the application, or £16 each later. Everything else is variable. The two costs that decide the real total are inheritance tax, where it applies, and professional fees if you instruct a solicitor, accountant or other probate practitioner. All of them are normally paid out of the estate, not by the executors personally.
Probate court fees in 2026
The fees are set by Schedule 1 to the Non-Contentious Probate Fees Order 2004, most recently amended by the Court and Tribunal Fees (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2026 with effect from 13 July 2026:
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Application for a grant, estate over £5,000 | £526 |
| Application for a grant, estate £5,000 or less | No fee |
| Official copy of the grant, ordered with the application | £2 each |
| Official copy ordered later | £16 each |
| Second or subsequent grant for the same person (for example, an executor who held power reserved applying later) | £22, payable whatever the estate value |
| Entering or extending a caveat | £4 |
| Standing search, per six months | £4 |
| Depositing a will for safe keeping with the registry | £24 |
The fee is flat. It does not rise with the size of the estate, so a £6,000 estate and a £6 million estate pay the same £526.
Order enough copies at the start. Each organisation holding the deceased's assets will want to see the grant, and sending copies to several of them at the same time avoids posting a single copy from one to the next. At £2 each, ten copies cost £20 with the application. Ordered later, the same ten cost £160.
Help with fees
An applicant on a low income or certain benefits can apply for help with the court fee, online or on form EX160. If you apply for probate online, you pay the full fee at the start and receive a refund if help is granted. Help is not available for the cost of extra copies.
Inheritance tax: the cost that often dwarfs the rest
Inheritance tax is not a probate fee, but it is usually the largest cost of dealing with an estate, and some of it normally has to be paid before the grant is issued. The rate is 40% on the value above the £325,000 nil-rate band. The threshold can rise to £500,000 where a home is left to children or grandchildren and the estate is worth less than £2 million. Anything left to a spouse, civil partner or charity is exempt, and a reduced rate of 36% applies where 10% or more of the net estate is left to charity.
gov.uk's own example: an estate of £500,000 with a £325,000 threshold pays 40% of £175,000, which is £70,000. The tax is due by the end of the sixth month after the month of death, with interest after that, though tax on property can be paid in instalments over 10 years. Our IHT rules guide covers the reliefs in detail.
Professional fees
There is no official scale for professional fees. Applying yourself can be cheaper than paying a probate practitioner, as gov.uk points out. Many executors handle a simple estate themselves and bring in help only for the tax return or the property. Practitioners commonly charge in one of three ways:
- Fixed fee for the grant only. The practitioner prepares and submits the application and the inheritance tax forms, and the executors do the rest;
- Full estate administration. Collecting assets, paying debts and tax, estate accounts and distribution. This is usually charged on time spent or as an agreed fixed fee;
- Percentage of the estate. Offered by some firms. Compare it with a time-based estimate before agreeing, because it can be expensive on a large but simple estate.
Solicitors' firms must be open about their prices. The Solicitors Regulation Authority's Transparency Rules require firms that offer probate to publish the total cost, or an average or range of costs, for uncontested estates where all the assets are in the UK. They must also publish what is and is not included. That makes like-for-like comparison possible. Ask every firm for the same scope in writing.
An illustration
As an illustration only, consider an unmarried person's estate of £280,000 left to her two children, below the £325,000 nil-rate band and therefore excepted from a full inheritance tax account. The official costs are the £526 application fee and, say, eight copies of the grant at £2 each (£16), a total of £542. No inheritance tax is due. Any further cost depends on how much of the work the executors do themselves. If the same estate were worth £500,000 with no home passing to children or grandchildren, the inheritance tax at 40% on £175,000 would be £70,000, more than a hundred times the court fee.
Other costs to budget for
- Valuations. Property, jewellery, art or a private company may need a professional valuation for the inheritance tax figures;
- Property costs. Insurance, utilities and council tax on an empty home continue until it is sold or transferred, and selling incurs estate agent and conveyancing fees;
- Disputes. A caveat costs only £4, but a contested will or claim against the estate brings legal costs that can exceed everything else on this list.
The fee rules are set out on gov.uk and in the Non-Contentious Probate Fees Order. For the process itself, see our guide to the probate application.
Acumon's probate team quotes a defined scope before starting, from a grant-only service to full administration, and handles the inheritance tax work through inheritance tax specialists. If you are an executor weighing whether to do it yourself, a short scoping call usually shows which parts are worth handing over.