Probate Fees Are Rising to £526 on 13 July 2026
When someone dies, the person sorting out their affairs often needs a legal document before banks, pension providers and the Land Registry will deal with them. If there is a Will, this is called a grant of probate.
If there is no Will, it is a grant of letters of administration. Either way, you apply to the Probate Registry, and there is a fee to do so. That fee is changing. The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that the probate application fee will rise to £526 on 13 July 2026, subject to final approval by Parliament. The current fee is £300, so families will pay an extra £226. That is a rise of around 75 percent. Currently it appears it is only the application fee that is rising. Key points to remember:
- Probate application fee: rising from £300 to £526.
- Estates worth £5,000 or less: still free. There is no application fee at all below this threshold, and that is not changing.
- Extra copies of the grant: currently £16 each. From July, if you order copies at the same time as your application, the fee drops to just £2 per copy. Ordering several copies up front lets you deal with different banks and organisations at once, so this is a small but welcome saving.
Please remember: the £526 fee is a flat fee. It does not go up with the size of the estate. Whether the estate is worth £20,000 or £2 million, the application fee is the same once you are over the £5,000 threshold.
Do you need our help?
A clear, up to date will makes probate smoother and reduces the chance of delays or disputes. Keeping a simple record of your accounts, policies and property in one place saves your family hours of searching. And for some families, certain types of trust or the way assets are jointly owned can affect whether a full probate application is needed at all. These are personal decisions that depend entirely on your own circumstances, which is exactly the sort of thing a friendly conversation can help you think through.
The change to probate fees is a useful reminder that planning ahead is one of the kindest things you can do for the people you love. A little organisation now spares them stress, time and cost later. If you would like to talk through what this means for you and your family give us a call to book a consultation with us. No pressure, just a friendly chat.
