UK estate figures › Probate fees

Probate · application fee

£526to apply for a grant of probate · estates over £5,000

The fee is paid to HMCTS once — not a percentage, not per asset class. Estates worth £5,000 or less pay nothing.

Verified against GOV.UK on 27 Oct 2026

Figure history

13 Jul 2026 — Probate application fee: £300 → £526 · GOV.UK — Probate fees ↗

HMCTS raised the flat probate application fee for estates over £5,000 (confirmed by HMCTS 19 June 2026, took effect 13 July 2026).

§1What it means

A flat fee of £526 — not a percentage of the estate.

To close an estate, banks, land registries, and pension providers typically require a grant of probate (or grant of letters of administration if there is no will). This grant is issued by the Probate Registry. The application fee is £526, paid once regardless of how large the estate is.

Estates worth £5,000 or less pay no application fee. There is no sliding scale above that — it is £526 whether the estate is worth £6,000 or £6,000,000.

Once HMCTS receives a complete application, the grant typically issues within 12 weeks. Estates that require IHT to be paid first, or where paperwork is incomplete, take longer.

Worked example

A daughter is sole executor of her mother's estate, valued at £310,000. The estate is a property and two bank accounts. She applies for probate personally through HMCTS, without a solicitor.

Probate application feeestate over £5,000£526

Inheritance tax dueestate is below the £325,000 nil-rate band£0

Solicitorpersonal application allowedNot required

Expected grantfrom a complete applicationUp to 12 weeks

SIGNUMValoren’s own case-work deskFor estates in England and Wales

Want help with the whole estate?

Signum is part of Valoren — our own service, and we say so plainly.

Signum finds every account, policy and debt, chases the institutions and sets the figures out in one schedule you confirm. A separate regulated firm, named in your written quote, prepares and submits the probate application.

For an estate you sign two written agreements, never one. Both agreements, with both prices, are put in front of you before you commit to either.

It starts with a free intake, and if we are not the right fit for your estate, we will tell you so and point you at the directories below.

Ask what it would cost, free How it works, and the price bands

No call needed. We reply by email within two business days: what the work would involve and what it is likely to cost.

Valoren is not a law firm and is not regulated: no regulator, no Legal Ombudsman and no compensation fund cover our part. No referral fees, either way.

Prefer an independent adviser? The Law Society, STEP and the Chartered Institute of Taxation keep public directories, and none of them pays Valoren a referral fee.

§2Common questions

Probate fees, answered.

The probate application fee is £526 for estates worth more than £5,000.

Estates below that threshold pay no probate fee. The fee is payable to HMCTS when you submit your application.

Once a complete application is received, a grant of probate typically takes up to 12 weeks.

More complex estates — those with IHT to pay, foreign assets, or missing paperwork — often take longer. The clock starts from the date HMCTS receives a complete application.

No. Probate is not required for assets that pass outside the estate: jointly-owned property passing to the survivor, named-beneficiary pensions, and assets held in trust all bypass the process.

Many banks and other institutions set their own threshold below which they will release funds without a grant.

Barclays, Santander UK, Nationwide Building Society and NatWest publish £50,000 for sole accounts; Lloyds Bank and Halifax publish no figure and decide case by case.

Across the 59 banks and building societies we have checked, published figures run from £5,000 to £50,000.

The executor named in the will applies for a Grant of Probate.

Where there is no will, the next of kin applies for a Grant of Letters of Administration. Both applications are made to the Probate Registry through HMCTS.

Yes. A personal application (sometimes called DIY probate) can be made online or by post via the HMCTS Probate Service.

You do not need a solicitor, though one is commonly used when the estate is large, there is no will, or disputes are expected.

§3Related next steps

Informational, not advice. Confirm against GOV.UK before acting. Figure verified 27 Oct 2026.

Cite this figure: Valoren, “Probate Application Fees,” https://valoren.uk/figures/probate-fees (verified 27 Oct 2026).

Figures checked against gov.uk 27 OCT 2026 · The Figure Watch