Probate Cost Calculator — DIY vs Solicitor, Honestly

Probate is the legal authority granted to someone — usually an executor named in a will — to deal with a deceased person's estate: collecting assets, paying debts, and distributing what remains to beneficiaries. A genuinely useful probate cost calculator separates the cost into two entirely independent parts: the fixed court fee paid to HMCTS, and the optional, variable professional fee if you choose to use a solicitor. Understanding that these two costs are unrelated is the single most important thing to grasp before deciding how to proceed.

It's worth being clear from the outset that there's genuinely no legal requirement to use a solicitor for probate in England and Wales. Every executor is entitled to apply directly, and a large share of straightforward estates are administered this way every year, without any professional involvement beyond the court fee itself.

Running your own numbers through a probate cost calculator before committing to either route matters because the two paths lead to genuinely different outcomes, not just different price tags. DIY probate asks the executor to personally handle asset valuation, HMRC tax forms, and the court application, which takes real time and carries real risk of error on a complex estate. A solicitor removes that burden but at a cost that, on a percentage basis, can bear very little relationship to the actual hours the work takes — which is precisely the gap this calculator is designed to make visible before you commit either way.

The genuinely important insight a probate cost calculator reveals is how poorly a percentage-based fee tracks the actual work involved. Administering a £200,000 estate and a £600,000 estate, where both are equally straightforward — one property, a handful of savings accounts, a clear will, no disputes — typically takes roughly the same number of hours. Yet a 2% solicitor fee charges three times as much for the larger estate, despite the workload barely changing.

This is exactly why running the numbers side by side matters more as the estate value rises. On a modest estate, the absolute difference between DIY and a solicitor's percentage fee might be a few hundred pounds — a genuinely reasonable price for peace of mind if the family would rather not deal with the paperwork during a difficult time. On a substantial estate, that same percentage can mean tens of thousands of pounds for identical work, which is a decision worth making with the actual figures in front of you rather than accepting a quote at face value.

The HMCTS probate application fee is £300 for estates worth more than £5,000 — free for estates at or below that figure. This fee rose from £273 to £300 on 27 January 2025 and remains at that level through 2026/27. It's a flat, national rate regardless of estate size, region, or whether a solicitor handles the application. Certified copies of the Grant of Probate cost £1.50 each, and most executors need 5 to 10 for banks, property sales, and investment providers.

It's worth ordering slightly more copies than you initially think necessary. Requesting copies after the fact means a further wait, and each institution — every bank, every pension provider, every investment platform, the Land Registry if property is being sold or transferred — typically wants an original certified copy, not a photocopy, before releasing funds or processing a transfer. At £1.50 each, ordering a couple of spares at the outset is a genuinely small cost against the delay of a second application later in the process.

On a typical £400,000 estate, a 2% fee works out to £8,000 — before VAT and disbursements — for work that often takes only 20 to 30 hours. Historically, percentage-based fees were justified by the personal liability solicitors took on, but for straightforward estates this rarely translates into meaningfully more work than a fixed-fee alternative would cover.

It's worth being clear about what a solicitor's fee actually buys, since the answer varies meaningfully between firms. Some quotes cover "grant-only" service — the solicitor simply obtains the Grant of Probate, and the executor still handles all asset collection, valuation, and distribution afterward. Others cover full estate administration — valuing assets, completing the IHT return, corresponding with HMRC, collecting and distributing assets, and preparing final estate accounts. These are genuinely different services at genuinely different price points, and it's worth confirming exactly which one is being quoted before comparing fees between firms, since a low percentage on a grant-only service can end up costing more overall once the executor's own time and any additional professional help are factored in.

Increasingly, some newer probate services offer a fixed, capped fee regardless of estate size, sometimes starting as low as a few hundred pounds for guidance and document preparation, with the executor still completing the application themselves under professional oversight. This middle path is worth exploring for estates where full DIY feels daunting but a traditional solicitor's percentage fee feels disproportionate to the work involved.

The practical process for DIY probate genuinely isn't as intimidating as it can sound. The executor gathers a full list of the deceased's assets and debts, values the estate as accurately as possible, completes the relevant HMRC inheritance tax form (IHT205 for simpler estates, IHT400 where the estate is more complex or IHT is due), then submits the probate application through GOV.UK, either online or by post. Once the Grant of Probate is issued, typically within 4 to 8 weeks of submission, the executor uses it to close accounts, sell or transfer property, and distribute the estate according to the will.

The genuine risk with DIY probate isn't usually the application itself, but the valuation and tax reporting stage. Undervaluing an asset, missing a liability, or making an error on the IHT form can lead to delays, penalties, or in rare cases personal liability for the executor if the mistake results in tax being underpaid. This is precisely the trade-off a probate cost calculator helps make explicit: the money saved by avoiding a solicitor's percentage fee, weighed honestly against the executor's own confidence in handling valuation and HMRC paperwork correctly.

The Help with Fees scheme can reduce or fully waive the £300 court fee, based on the executor's own income and savings — not the value of the estate itself. Executors receiving Universal Credit, certain other benefits, or with limited personal savings may qualify. Apply using form EX160 alongside the probate application. This is a genuinely underused entitlement, and doesn't cover any solicitor or professional service fee, only the court charge.

No, not automatically. Lay executors — family or friends acting without a professional qualification — are not entitled to payment for their own time under English and Welsh law, however many hours the role genuinely takes (often 50 to 200 hours for a typical estate). They can, however, recover genuine out-of-pocket expenses: travel, postage, phone calls, and any professional fees paid on behalf of the estate. Professional executors, such as solicitors or banks named in the will, do charge fees, which must be authorised by the will itself or agreed by the beneficiaries.

This distinction genuinely surprises a lot of first-time executors. Taking weeks off work, spending evenings on hold with banks and pension providers, and personally driving to clear out a property are all real costs in time and effort — but under current law, none of that translates into a fee the executor can charge the estate simply for having done the job. A lay executor who feels the workload genuinely warrants payment can apply to court for remuneration in exceptional or unusually complex cases, though this is the exception rather than the norm, and isn't something to count on when weighing up whether DIY probate makes sense for a specific family's circumstances.

A straightforward estate typically takes 6 to 12 months to administer fully, though simple cases can sometimes complete in 3 to 6 months. Complex estates — multiple properties, business interests, foreign assets, or disputes among beneficiaries — can take 1 to 3 years or longer. The probate application itself is usually the fastest stage, with the Grant typically issued within 4 to 8 weeks of submission; the slower parts are generally registering the death and gathering full information beforehand, and collecting, valuing, and distributing assets afterward.

It's worth factoring timeline into the DIY-versus-solicitor decision alongside cost, not instead of it. A solicitor doesn't necessarily complete the process faster than a competent DIY executor, but they do generally absorb the administrative burden of chasing institutions, tracking correspondence, and managing the paperwork trail — a genuinely real cost in time and stress that a pure pound-for-pound comparison from a probate cost calculator doesn't fully capture.

Here's how the numbers work through a real probate cost calculator scenario. An estate worth £350,000, quoted a 2% solicitor fee, needing 6 certified copies. DIY route: £300 court fee + £9 for copies = £309 total. Solicitor route: 2% of £350,000 = £7,000, plus the £300 court fee and £9 in copies = £7,309 total (before VAT). The potential saving from handling probate yourself: roughly £7,000, for an estate straightforward enough not to genuinely need professional help.

Official sources & further reading: apply for probate directly at GOV.UK, check the Help with Fees scheme via GOV.UK, and read general guidance at MoneyHelper. Check any Inheritance Tax due separately with our inheritance tax calculator, or browse every tool on the mortgage calculators homepage.