Published prices · SRA Transparency Rules · data as of 20 October 2026
The probate fees firms publish, 2026
A firm that offers uncontested probate must publish its prices. We read the price pages of 1,595 SRA-regulated firms, kept each figure as printed, and applied the same rules our comparison uses to pick one fee per firm. This page is what that dataset says about the two services firms price: obtaining the grant only, and administering the whole estate. Updated October 2026.
Grant only: applying for the grant of probate on your figures
666 of the 1561 priced firms publish a fee for obtaining the grant where the family supplies the estate figures and does the rest. The table shows the spread at three estate values; the figures barely move because almost every firm publishes one price for the service whatever the estate, and a firm whose label limits the price to small estates is excluded above that limit.
| Gross estate value | Firms | Lowest | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £200,000 | 653 | £250 | £850 | £1,140 | £1,500 | £30,000 |
| £350,000 | 644 | £250 | £850 | £1,200 | £1,545 | £30,000 |
| £600,000 | 644 | £250 | £850 | £1,200 | £1,545 | £30,000 |
Legal fee only, as published, before VAT where the firm quotes plus VAT. The Probate Registry application fee, £526 for estates over £5,000 since 13 July 2026, is paid separately and is not in any figure here. A range counts by its lower figure and a "from" price by that figure.
The middle half of published grant-only fees at £350,000 runs from £850 to £1,545 around a median of £1,200. 57% of these firms publish a single fixed figure, which makes grant-only the most comparable price in legal services: the service is the same form, the same registry and the same inheritance tax account whichever firm files it. The lowest published figure is £250 and the highest £30,000.
Full administration: the firm deals with the whole estate
776 firms publish a figure for administering the estate from start to finish, and here the format changes: 75% publish a range rather than a price, because the work depends on the number of assets, beneficiaries and whether there is a property or inheritance tax to settle. We place a range by its lower figure, so the table below is the floor of what firms print, and the firm's own page says what takes an estate to the upper end of its range. 140 firms publish a percentage of the estate value, with or without a fixed element; those have no £ figure to rank and appear separately on the comparison.
| Gross estate value | Firms | Lowest | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £200,000 | 669 | £350 | £1,800 | £2,500 | £3,950 | £30,000 |
| £350,000 | 645 | £350 | £1,800 | £2,730 | £4,000 | £30,000 |
| £600,000 | 636 | £350 | £1,800 | £2,730 | £4,000 | £30,000 |
At £350,000 the median published full-administration figure is £2,730, with the middle half from £1,800 to £4,000; the lowest published figure is £350 and the highest £30,000. Only 37 of the 635 firms priced at both £200,000 and £600,000 print a different figure for the larger estate, so for most firms the published number is the same whether the estate is modest or large; the difference is made by the range and the hourly rate many firms quote beyond it.
By region
Region is the firm's head office on the SRA register. Probate is rarely done in person, so a firm in a cheaper region can act for an estate anywhere in England and Wales. For a grant-only application, the median published fee in London (£1,750) is 120% above the median in North East (£795) among regions with five or more priced firms. For full administration the lowest regional median is North West at £2,000 and the highest London at £3,255.
Grant only, £350,000 estate
| Region (firm's head office) | Firms | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North East | 31 | £600 | £795 | £950 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 59 | £750 | £850 | £1,250 |
| Wales | 41 | £750 | £850 | £1,200 |
| North West | 103 | £750 | £995 | £1,250 |
| West Midlands | 66 | £850 | £1,000 | £1,500 |
| East Midlands | 44 | £900 | £1,200 | £1,500 |
| South West | 67 | £950 | £1,450 | £1,750 |
| South East | 91 | £1,000 | £1,500 | £2,000 |
| East of England | 53 | £1,000 | £1,500 | £1,800 |
| London | 89 | £1,050 | £1,750 | £2,500 |
Full administration, £350,000 estate (range by lower figure)
| Region (firm's head office) | Firms | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North West | 87 | £1,500 | £2,000 | £3,500 |
| Wales | 34 | £1,170 | £2,000 | £3,500 |
| North East | 15 | £1,350 | £2,000 | £3,000 |
| West Midlands | 61 | £1,500 | £2,250 | £3,375 |
| East Midlands | 39 | £1,500 | £2,400 | £3,500 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 50 | £1,920 | £2,500 | £3,000 |
| South East | 87 | £1,830 | £3,000 | £5,000 |
| South West | 69 | £2,000 | £3,000 | £4,000 |
| East of England | 55 | £2,000 | £3,000 | £3,750 |
| London | 148 | £2,500 | £3,255 | £5,000 |
How firms choose to publish a probate price
Grant only: basis
| How the fee is published | Firms | Share |
|---|---|---|
| a single fixed figure | 368 | 57% |
| a range (lowest figure used) | 164 | 25% |
| a "from" or minimum figure (that figure used) | 110 | 17% |
| a table of price bands | 2 | 0% |
Full administration: basis
| How the fee is published | Firms | Share |
|---|---|---|
| a range (lowest figure used) | 485 | 66% |
| a single fixed figure | 116 | 16% |
| a "from" or minimum figure (that figure used) | 106 | 14% |
| a table of price bands | 29 | 4% |
Grant only: VAT wording
| VAT wording | Firms | Share |
|---|---|---|
| quoted plus VAT | 598 | 93% |
| quoted including VAT | 31 | 5% |
| VAT treatment not stated beside the figure | 15 | 2% |
Full administration: VAT wording
| VAT wording | Firms | Share |
|---|---|---|
| quoted plus VAT | 669 | 91% |
| VAT treatment not stated beside the figure | 46 | 6% |
| quoted including VAT | 21 | 3% |
"Plus VAT" means the printed figure excludes VAT at 20%. A percentage-of-estate price appears in the basis table where the firm's own band or figure is a percentage; the 140 firms that publish a percentage alongside or instead of a £ figure are counted above.
Firms that publish a probate price
1031 of the 1561 priced firms publish a probate price of some kind, against 1092 that publish a conveyancing price; 34 of the 1595 firms read (2%) publish no price for any service. 8,821 firms are listed on this site in all, so this is a sample of the firms that publish, weighted towards firms we have reached; the shares describe the firms read, not the profession.
Method and limits
- Source. Each firm's own price page, read on a recorded date and stored with the firm's wording, the page URL and a snapshot. Figures are copied, not retyped; a build check traces every £ figure on this page to the dataset and every dataset figure to the firm's page.
- One fee per firm. The same rules as the comparison: the firm's lowest live figure that covers the estate value, worked examples at other values excluded, figures below £250 treated as add-ons rather than the fee, percentages given no £ value.
- Grant only against full administration follows the firm's own label: a line is grant only where the label describes the grant application alone (grant only, limited service, excepted estate, IHT205 or IHT400 work); a line that describes collecting in and distributing the estate is full administration.
- Quartiles are nearest-rank, so every quartile is a figure some firm published, not an interpolation. Regional lines with fewer than five firms are pooled.