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Probate
What probate costs
The routes that cost nothing come first, because for a lot of estates that is the true answer. Then every court fee, in all three nations, with its source beside it.
- You may not need probate
- You can apply yourself
- Help with the fee
- England and Wales
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
Start here: you may not need probate at all
Before anything else: you might not need probate. If everything was held jointly, or there were only savings, it may pass to the survivor without a grant at all. Ring the bank and ask. It costs a phone call and it can save you the fee, the forms and the firm.
Who that applies to: Anyone dealing with an estate where the person who died only had savings, or held shares, money, land or property jointly with somebody else who survives them. Joint tenancies and joint accounts normally pass to the survivor automatically. Each bank, insurer and building society sets its own limit, so the answer comes from ringing them, not from a guide.
Source: HM Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
There is no rush about finding out. Ring the bank, the building society and the insurer and ask each of them what they need. Some will release what they hold without a grant. They each set their own limit, so the answer comes from them rather than from any guide, this one included. It costs nothing to ask and it is the one step that can end the whole question.
Where a bank does publish its line, we have read it off that bank's own page and kept it, dated, on the bank probate limits page.
And if you do need it, you can apply yourself
You are allowed to do this yourself. The government runs the service, the form is the form, and the court charges the same fee whether a solicitor sends it or you do. It is not the right call for everybody, and nobody should feel got at for handing it to a firm. But it is a choice, and a lot of what is written about probate is written by people who would rather you did not know that.
Who that applies to: In England and Wales, an executor named in the will, or the closest living relative if there is no will. You need the estate valued and any Inheritance Tax dealt with first. It is hardest where the estate is taxable, where the will is disputed, where assets sit abroad or where a trust is involved, and those are the cases where paying somebody is a reasonable decision rather than a defeat.
Source: HM Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
And if the fee itself is a problem, there is a scheme for that
The court fee can be reduced, or removed
You may pay a reduced fee or none at all on a low income or on certain benefitsThere is a scheme that cuts the court fee, or removes it, for people on a low income or on certain benefits. Almost nobody selling probate services mentions it. Apply before you pay if you are applying by post, because online you pay in full first and wait for the refund.
Applies in: England and Wales.
Source: HM Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
What the court charges in England and Wales
One application fee, and above the first few thousand pounds the size of the estate makes no difference to it. It is £526, and it is the same figure whether you send the application in or a solicitor does.
| Value of the estate | Fee |
|---|---|
| £5,000 or less | £0 |
| Over £5,000 | £526 |
Source: HM Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
In England and Wales the court charges one fee to grant probate, and it does not care how big the estate is beyond the first five thousand pounds. A three hundred thousand pound estate and a three million pound estate pay exactly the same £526. Hold on to that when a firm quotes you a percentage of the estate for the same piece of paperwork.
The copies
Order the copies when you apply. Every bank, insurer and registrar wants to see the grant, and posting one original around the country in turn is how a straightforward estate takes eleven months.
£2 for each extra copy, if you order them with the application. £16 for each copy ordered after you have applied. The same sheet of paper costs two pounds on the day you apply and sixteen afterwards. Nothing about the document changes. Work out how many organisations need to see it before you send the form.
Source: HM Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
And the later ones: HM Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
Count the banks, the insurers, the registrars and the pension providers before you apply rather than after. It is the one piece of arithmetic on this page worth doing in advance, and it is worth doing calmly.
The fee nobody lists
A second application, after a grant has already been made
£22 to make a second application once probate has already been grantedAn executor who stood back at the first application and later needs to step in pays £22, and pays it even on an estate small enough to have escaped the main fee altogether.
Applies in: England and Wales.
Source: HM Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
Scotland: confirmation, and a real scale
Scotland does not grant probate. The sheriff court issues confirmation, and unlike the English fee this one genuinely rises with the estate.
| Value of the estate | Fee |
|---|---|
| Not exceeding £50,000 | £0 |
| £50,000.01 up to £250,000 | £351 |
| Exceeding £250,000 | £705 |
Source: Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
Scotland charges on a scale, so the size of the estate does change the court fee, unlike England and Wales where everyone over five thousand pounds pays the same. Even at the top the fee is £705, which is still a fraction of what a percentage-of-the-estate bill would come to on the same estate.
Small estates, and the clerk who will fill the form in with you
£36,000 or less is a small estate, and the sheriff clerk will help you fill in the formsScotland has something England does not: a court official who will sit down and fill in the form with you, free, if the estate is £36,000 or less. Make an appointment at the sheriff clerk's office. It also spares you a bond of caution, which is an insurance policy you would otherwise have to buy.
Applies in: Scotland.
Source: Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
The certificates, which are the Scottish version of the copies
Certificates of confirmation do the job in Scotland that copies of the grant do south of the border: one for each bank, each insurer, each registrar. Ordered with the inventory they are £10 each.
Source: Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
Going back for a certificate later costs £23 rather than £10, because the court has to search for the file first. Count the organisations before you lodge, not after.
And afterwards: Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
The help-with-fees scheme does not reach Scotland
There is no fee exemption on a small estate, and certificate fees are payable in every caseThe English help-with-fees scheme does not reach a Scottish small estate. There is no court fee to exempt you from in the first place, but the certificates still have to be paid for.
Applies in: Scotland.
Source: Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
Northern Ireland: one grant fee, a higher free band, and a charge for doing it yourself
The grant fee
£326 where the estate is worth more than £10,000, and nothing at or below thatNorthern Ireland charges one grant fee whatever the estate is worth above ten thousand pounds, and the order that sets it has already written down next year's figure and the one after. Then there is a second fee, and it lands on exactly the people who are doing the work themselves.
Applies in: Northern Ireland.
Source: Department of Justice (Northern Ireland), read 24 September 2026.
The value below which nothing is charged
£10,000, the assessed value below which no grant fee is charged at allNorthern Ireland's free band is twice England's. An estate of ten thousand pounds or less pays no grant fee at all, where the English line sits at five thousand.
Applies in: Northern Ireland.
Source: Department of Justice (Northern Ireland), read 24 September 2026.
The extra charged to a personal applicant
£81 on top, charged only if you apply yourself rather than through a solicitorNorthern Ireland charges you extra for doing it yourself. The grant fee is the same either way, and then a personal applicant pays £81 on top. It is the only one of the three UK systems that works this way, and it is almost never mentioned in a guide written for the whole United Kingdom.
Applies in: Northern Ireland.
Source: Department of Justice (Northern Ireland), read 24 September 2026.
That last one is the reverse of the English position, where applying yourself costs exactly what applying through a firm costs. It is worth knowing before you decide either way, and it is not a reason to feel pushed in either direction.
If you would rather somebody else did it
That is a perfectly reasonable decision, and it is the right one where the estate is taxable, where the will is disputed, where assets sit abroad or where a trust is involved. Firms offering uncontested probate have to publish their prices, so you can read what they charge before you speak to anybody.
We keep those published prices on a page of their own, quoted from each firm's own page and dated, along with what we found when we checked the court fee printed on them.
Questions people ask
Do I always need probate when somebody dies?
No. Where everything was held jointly with somebody who survives, or where the accounts are small enough, it can often be dealt with without a grant. Each bank, insurer and building society sets its own limit, so the way to find out is to ring them and ask what they need. It costs nothing and it can end the question entirely.
How much is the probate fee?
In England and Wales there is one application fee and it does not change with the size of the estate above the first few thousand pounds. Estates at or below that line pay nothing. Scotland charges on a scale instead, with nothing payable on a smaller estate, and Northern Ireland has its own fee and its own free band, which is twice the English one.
Can I get help with the probate fee?
In England and Wales, yes. There is a scheme that reduces the court fee or removes it for people on a low income or on certain benefits, and almost nothing written by people selling probate services mentions it. If you are applying by post, apply for the help before you pay, because online you pay in full first and wait for a refund.
Is it cheaper to do probate myself?
The court fee is the same either way in England and Wales, so what you save is whatever a firm would have charged for the work. In Northern Ireland a personal applicant is actually charged extra, which is the opposite arrangement. Doing it yourself is harder where the estate is taxable, where the will is disputed or where a trust is involved.