Fixed Fee Probate Quotes:

Spend LESS of the beneficiaries’ cash on solicitors’ probate fees – get in touch!

We can always promise to do our best to find you good, reliable help at a sensible cost, but some cases really do need highly sophisticated advice where the rate will inevitably be higher, and the fees of a top-flight probate solicitor might be justified.  Read on for court costs and more, or use the form at the foot of the page to compare probate quotes – or give us a call at 03 300 102 300. We won’t recommend a highly sophisticated service (higher probate solicitors’ fees!) unless you really need it. Either way, we help you compare probate costs, so you get the service you need at a cost that makes sense.

When choosing a probate solicitor, it is important to understand that any solicitor can hold themselves out as doing probate work, but that doesn’t mean they are either a specialist or indeed expert.  Some solicitors juggle very different disciplines, and only their Continuing Professional Development record going back at least ten years will demonstrate their expertise – in my opinion.  In the Law, you have to specialise to be good. Even in big firms (often expensive), this is not always the case – all work is work.

Available Probate Service Options:

In all cases, I aim to find suitable professionals who charge sensible fees. It’s not the bottom end of the market, though. That is too risky for my comfort.

New Option: professional help: as much or as little as you choose – minimum 1 hour at half a typical probate solicitors’ rate from a qualified and regulated professional.

Option 1: The professionals do the work

  a) Fixed fee probate based on the estate details supplied or

  b) an hourly rate based on the complexity of the estate and the seniority of the staff who need to do the work. 

  c) We do have a further unusual option which may suit housebound or really busy folk or those who live far away or abroad, and that is to delegate ALL the work, including preserving any property, marketing it and even making sure the lawn gets mowed, the locks are changed and the post sorted.  The cost, of course, comes from the estate.

Option 2: Do it all yourself. Probate forms are here. Or call 0117 930 2430 (24×7) – you can ask for our free Guide to Probate below.

If it is a straightforward estate, you have the admin skills and the time, AND there is no possibility of a dispute.

Option 3: The Assisted Probate Service

Here, you do the easy bits rather than pay £300+ an hour to a probate solicitor. The professional tidies up and checks as far as they can (as you have done much of the work). If you have the admin skills to deal with the rest, this is the one for you!

Option 4:  Deed of Variation 

These are much underused, to the delight of the Chancellor.  They are used to change the way an estate is distributed – with the agreement of those who lose out!  This may save inheritance tax or skip a generation so those who need help get it soon, not 20 or 30 years later.  It may also be used to create Trusts and to protect vulnerable folk. If you inherit money you don’t need, then decide to give it away, then die within 7 years – the Taxman claps his hands in delight and will add all or part of the gift back into your assets for tax purposes.

Option 5. Disputed Probate (contentious probate in the profession).

This is heavy-duty stuff, and the minute you discover there may be a dispute, you need to get a fully professional, contentious probate firm involved, and that is NOT your typical High Street Solicitor. You are talking of tens of thousands of pounds if it gets to Court, and possibly a further zero on the end.  Act early to get a defence organised! Experts are not cheap, but less expert advice can cost you your home.

Option 6.  Complex Estates

Overseas assets, trusts, lifetime tax planning and other complexities may mean that the average High Street firm will be out of their depth. Not all will admit it, and they may buy in outside help, duplicating costs.

The typical rate in the market for Probate help is around £300++ VAT an hour.  Our associates’ Assisted Probate Service rates for simple estates are typically well under half that rate.  For an estate where Trusts or IHT are involved, the rate is a bit higher – but you will be in good hands, according to our clients. Plus, of course, third-party costs. Potentially more sophisticated solicitor-led advice will cost more (all solicitors are far from equal in complex probate cases), but will be sensible in the market.  High-level advice may be essential in estates where serious arguments are likely. Not all firms are equipped for Court appearances in disputes.

Ask for a recommendation using the Enquiry Form below or call 03 300 102 300– no sales pitch, cost, or obligation.

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Call us on 03 300 102 300 or use the form below for competitive probate quotes.

Incidentally, the Court Probate Fee in 2025 is £300 for estates requiring a Grant and valued at more than £5000. So £6,000 and £60m estates pay the same Court fee, hardly fair, in my opinion. Of course, that excludes all the other probate costs unless you do everything yourself.

Just letting the local solicitor who may hold the Will do the work may cost you dear, so why not let us get a comparative probate quote for you? No cost, no obligation.  Form at the bottom of the page or call 03 300 102 300. Small solicitor firms may not have the expertise; larger firms usually will, but they are usually saddled with big overheads, which the customer pays for in increased solicitor fees for probate.

You might even find out that a grant of probate isn’t even needed! That is an even bigger saving on probate solicitors’ fees! You would be surprised how often people worry, and then it turns out there isn’t a requirement to get a Grant anyway.

Dealing with the financial affairs of someone who has died can be stressful, and the cost of delegating to some professionals is a lot less than others. So contact us to get a probate quote. Fixed fees in probate are available in many cases, provided you have enough information. Always remember that fixed fee quotes are based on the information you supply and might change if other things turn up. Always compare probate quotes carefully.

Is professional probate help needed? Here are some more Probate Warnings where professional help may save the day:

• Where Inheritance Tax is likely to be payable – there are penalties for not paying within six months of the 1st day of the month following the death. That can be hard to achieve unless everything is well documented.
• Quarrelsome families often fall out forever – let them blame the third party, and keep the family together! See Will Disputes.
• Beneficiaries left out, or folk who may have been supported by the deceased or to whom an obligation was owed. Again, they take it out on the professional.
• Bankrupt beneficiaries can lead to bankrupt executors! Executors who pay out without doing bankruptcy searches may find themselves sued (personally) by the Trustee in Bankruptcy for defrauding creditors. 
• Disputes ideally need defusing by a neutral party as Court action can easily cost the price of a house or more. See Will Disputes.
• Estates where tax planning has taken place, including gifts and specialist investments. Careful research is needed with expertise.
• Overseas assets – all sorts of complications here. There may well be overseas lawyers’ probate costs to add on as well. An especially common trap is “English” companies’ shares, which are actually American-based based which will greatly delay and increase costs.
• Where the deceased may not be “domiciled” in the UK different tax rules may apply. A strong clue is that the father of the deceased was born abroad and not of English parentage.
• The family doesn’t have the administrative skills necessary. With many estates costing less than £500 (+ Court Fees) to sort out, why have all the worry? Our recommended probate lawyers can cover as much or as little of the work as you wish, even if it is just a quick check. Our associates are there to help.

Maybe you don’t need to get a probate quote, as you can deal with much of the work yourself. But perhaps you want to clarify a few points and get a final check, just to be sure? We can help through a specially negotiated Assisted Probate Service. It costs nothing to get a comparative quote – just tell us a little about the estate and maybe save thousands! We just need an idea of what is in the estate in terms of assets and liabilities, what the Will says, and whether there are any overseas complications (the most common being directly held shares in companies based in the United States.) The more detail, the better, but we appreciate there will be unknowns in many cases, and Asset Searches are well worth doing yourself or through the lawyer.

 A Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration, usually if there is no Will, sometimes as there is no executor) is the legal document giving the Executors (or Administrators) authority to deal with the assets and liabilities of an estate in accordance with the Will or under the Rules of Intestacy.  Probate quotes do vary wildly from firm to firm – if you find a  better one than we can offer, please do let us know. Or call 03 300 102 300.  

What that does NOT mean is that the Executor/ Administrator can do what they wish with the estate. If they don’t follow the Law, then they may be sued or even prosecuted for theft. Ignorance is no excuse, and paying a probate lawyer to at least have a check is often prudent.

Click for Our Probate Quote form.

Costs and Fees to Obtain a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.

There are three sets of costs: the Probate Registry Court Fees, probate solicitors fees, and expenses of the administration. Let us deal with these in turn.

Fees charged by the Probate Registry 2024 for the Grant.

Current fees for estates valued at over £5,000 are £273  + £1.50 per copy of the Letters of Administration. 

Probate Costs – Expenses of the Administration.

Whoever is the Executor or Administrator of the estate, there will be costs involved in managing the process. Expenses that Executors or Administrators can claim personally are very limited. No chance of making a profit legally!

However, it may be necessary to pay out for property insurance (you could get sued if you don’t and something goes wrong), urgent repairs, and maintenance. Other insurance is available to protect executors. Bankruptcy searches on all beneficiaries, Trustee Act Adverts, tracing services, loans to pay Inheritance Tax, and probate court fees.

Professional fees (we can source small amounts of help or a complete service at sensible fees should you wish it. There is also the cost of the funeral to be considered where there was no prepaid plan in place. Provided it is agreed in advance, and the bank (etc.) has sufficient funds, many will agree to pay the funeral bill directly to the undertaker – but if you pay it, you will have to wait until the Grant is issued to be reimbursed.  Obviously, there will be a lot of time which lay executors give free, phone calls (often repeated calls to the same forms who have failed to provide vital information), travel (for which you can claim expenses), looking after the security and safety of buildings and contents, fending off beneficiaries demanding to know why you are taking so long to pay them and much more.  The worst thing is dealing with disappointed beneficiaries who may threaten to sue and miss substantial creditors – often because the paperwork has been thrown away.

If there is any threat of claims against the estate (probate disputes), contact us, and we’ll put you in touch with specialist firms.  There can also be major issues between executors, as some seem to think they can do what they like with the estate assets and believe they can legally defraud beneficiaries!

Typical Professional Probate Fees – Fixed Fee or Hourly Rate + (sometimes) a Sucker Punch

Professional fixed fee probate quotes vary from around a flat 1.5% to 5% of the gross estate, to hourly rates, typically over £300 an hour + VAT- and often plus charges for letters, phone calls etc. Some add a sucker punch of an extra commission, the “responsibility allowance” or whatever they choose to call it. We will avoid recommending anyone who does that, and we’re pretty shocked that the Regulators still allow it.  It amounts to £18 on a £1000 asset or loan or £5,400 one of £300,000 – plus all the time costs. Looking at London properties your “responsibility allowance” element could easily add £36,000 to the bill. The same will apply if the deceased had a mortgage or other debt of the same amounts, so a £500,000 property with a £400,000 mortgage would be dealt with at normal hourly rates – then up to another £16,200 added to the bill for the heavy responsibility!

The gross estate is the value of the assets PLUS the value of the liabilities, so an estate with a big mortgage (for example) may be far more expensive than you would expect on a “low” percentage lawyer’s fee.

Our associates can help with straightforward estates from under half the typical hourly rate and for more complex estates we would introduce you to others who can provide more sophisticated help at the low end of relevant solicitors’ fees (but not expertise) – with no nasty responsibility allowance! Alternatively, a flat % of the gross estate. All plus third-party costs (disbursements) and VAT where relevant.

Probate Quote: Get Value for Money.  For help call 03 300 102 300.

The amount we can save you on Probate solicitors fees varies substantially: our best to date is a 94% saving! It is unusual for it to be that much, but there are normally substantial savings to be made. We do ask for any quotes you have had, not so we can quote a little less, but so we don’t waste time when you have had a really competitive quote – we’ll just say so! Probate solicitors’ fees vary widely, and there are other professionals who can help.

The basic form (just below) is simple, but you are welcome to add additional details to help make our recommendations better.

We are told that some firms charge as much as 5% of the GROSS value of the estate, plus VAT which makes it 6% – more than one pound in twenty (plus third-party costs) being lost to the beneficiaries. The gross value of an estate is the assets PLUS the liabilities (so a £200,000 mortgage could add £12,000 to the bill!)

We appreciate that many people wish to do as much as possible themselves and may only want a limited amount of help to keep probate costs down (not that that is always a good idea!) On the other hand, some will want everything done for them.

Our job is to introduce clients to suitable experts and to keep tabs on those experts (via your reports) to ensure they are doing a good job and providing value for money not simply a low probate quote. We used to do it in-house, but experience shows that attracting and keeping good quality staff is really tough. So instead of doing that, we spend our time interviewing solicitors and other specialists to form a panel with various areas of expertise.  We can then chat with you to find out what your needs are, and pass you on to the appropriate panel member, once they have confirmed that they have the staff and time available to do the job.  You don’t really want to be 100th in the queue for attention!

Once you confirm that you wish them to act for you,  and have agreed to the probate fees, we ask you to report any issues to us.  This will then influence whom we recommend in future, unless the problems are sorted out quickly.

I WOULD LIKE A (no obligation) PROBATE QUOTE PLEASE

(Tick boxes to left of option – don’t show on all screens). Or download a more detailed form.

Name of Enquirer *

CheckboxI am the executorI am next of kinOther - please give details

Email Address *

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CheckboxTick the relevant box or boxesFree Probate GuideQuote for Assisted ProbateQuote for Grant OnlyFull Probate Service QuoteOverseas Assets - tick if YES

Details of estate (e.g. rough value) or your question

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You can also write to us:

Stephen Pett, Editor, The Probate Department (brokers) 5 Malcolm Gardens, Polegate BN26 6PN

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Where matters become unavoidably contentious, we can refer you to other firms that specialise in contentious probate. We should also mention that a great deal of our associates’ work is in Estate Planning, trusts, asset protection etc, so we can help the living plan effectively, as well as point you in the right direction in sorting out the affairs of the deceased, perhaps with fixed fee probate quotes.

Free telephone guidance:   free generic guidance is limited to 5 minutes. Such guidance can only be based on the information given, and a full and considered study of the facts with paperwork may not come to the same conclusion. We always recommend that we pass you on to a specialist firm to get formal advice. We do not give advice, nor do we charge fees.

Will or Intestacy Review: who is entitled to what? Very often, the family may be uncertain (or disagree) with what the entitlement of individuals is, and this can lead to massive problems.    A quick review can often settle that before it escalates.

Caveat – where there is a dispute: we can introduce you to firms who will ask the Courts to try to force the “other side” to speak to you and try to resolve problems (before they are granted the right to deal with the estate by the Probate Registry) by what is called “entering a caveat.”  That may be enough to avoid what is called “contentious probate” – if it is not, we can introduce you to firms who handle such work at relatively modest cost, but it should be avoided if at all possible!

Fixed Fee Probate: provided you give an accurate list of all the assets and liabilities in the estate, we can source a very competitive fixed fee service.  They will try to stick to it, but if extra work is required because problems arise or clients require additional advice or time, then that may change things.

Hourly Rates: in most cases, an hourly rate is actually the fairest way to deal with things, and is often much cheaper (especially if everyone is patient and just awaits our regular reports!)   However, often estate are more complex than they seem, and the fixed fee providers will be looking to add their hourly charge for extra issues. Generally speaking most estates involve about 80% case workers rate (the lowest), 20% supervisors and no barristers rate unless things get complicated.  That usually comes in where there are serious tax issues or complex trusts, and you will always be advised before this rate is charged.   

Survey of Solicitors fees 

This is the most recent survey of solicitors fees we could find; clearly, you are unlikely to be using a “Magic Circle” law firm (unless you are very rich!)

Average Solicitors hourly fees 2022 in brackets – I haven’t found any later ones.)

plus VAT.

Posh City solicitors: £1020 to £2020

Posh firms newly-qualified lawyer: £450 to £600

City firm partner (outside the magic circle): £600 – £900

City firm with less than 2 years’ post-qualification experience: £450 to £600

Major regional and national firm partner: estimated £450 – £600.

Major regional and national firm with less than 2 years post qualification experience: estimated £275 to £360.

Source: Jim Diamond’s Hourly Rate Survey  2022 and Final Report (he retired) did not cover all grades so there are some estimates.

Low cost probate quotes our recommendations hourly rates: are generally much less and the extras (“disbursements”) will be a lower, as they don’t have any hidden or unclear charges to help you save money on probate!

 

People also ask

 

Why do solicitors charge in 6 minute units?

Because it is easier and more profitable for them. It is published as an hourly rate, but charged, in units of 6 minutes (known as “a unit”). The reason for this is that it is easier to monitor costs building up in hours that are divisible by 10. That said, a 7-minute call will cost 2 units, a one-minute call 1 unit, and on average, it is probably possible to get at least chargeable 20 units into an hour, which effectively means the hourly rate is DOUBLE the theoretical published one.   A fair average might be that that there are 11 or 12 units charged in an hour – that is still 10% or 20% more than the official charge out rate.

Can Probate Fees be paid from the estate?

Whilst many firms will ask for some sort of deposit or enough funds to pay out the disbursements (third party costs – see below) all of these costs can be paid from the estate – as long as there is enough money of course. Anything paid in advance is in effect refunded before the estate is split up and any other bills paid before the balance is paid out in to the beneficiaries.

What are disbursements – third-party costs (link)