Guide
Probate application fee: £526, and when there's no fee at all
Updated
The court fee is the one probate cost that is the same whoever applies, and it is smaller than many people fear. Here it is in full, along with what applying yourself actually involves.
The official fees
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Application, estate over £5,000 | £526 |
| Application, estate £5,000 or less | £0 |
| Extra copies of the grant, ordered with the application | £2 each |
| Extra copies ordered later | £16 each |
| Second application for the same estate (where one is needed) | £22 |
These are the official figures from gov.uk, checked August 2026; fees do change from time to time, so it is worth glancing at that page before you apply. One practical tip hides in the table: order the extra copies with the application at £2, because you will usually need several (one per bank or institution), and they cost £16 each afterwards.
Doing probate yourself: what it honestly involves
DIY probate is free apart from the application fee, and plenty of people do it. The application itself is a gov.uk online form (or a paper form) plus the original will. What takes the time is not the form; it is the gathering: writing to banks for date-of-death balances, valuing the house, and completing the inheritance tax reporting even when no tax is due. For a simple estate, a bank account or two and perhaps a house passing to a spouse or children, it is careful admin rather than legal difficulty.
When paying for help earns its fee
- The estate is near or over the inheritance tax thresholds, or claiming allowances from a late spouse's estate; the tax forms are where DIY errors cost real money.
- There is no will, foreign property, a business, or family disagreement about the estate.
- The executor is grieving and simply does not want the admin; that is a completely sufficient reason, and a £500–£1,500 grant-only fee (typical 2026 quotes) buys the form-filling without the full administration cost.
- Time matters: an experienced firm makes fewer of the small errors that cause applications to be stopped and requisitioned.
Whether you apply yourself or through a firm, the £526 court fee is the same, and estates of £5,000 or less pay nothing. Applying yourself starts at gov.uk/applying-for-probate; if you'd rather hand it over, get a couple of quotes first so the fee is a decision, not a default.