When someone dies, the person named as executor has to sort out their affairs. That process is called probate. This page explains what is involved, when you genuinely need a solicitor and when you can do it yourself, so you can make the decision with your eyes open.
Choice Wills is a will writing and estate planning firm. We are members of the Society of Will Writers. We are not solicitors and we do not administer estates, so we will not be applying for probate on your behalf.
We have written this page anyway, because the families we help are the ones who end up dealing with probate, and a good deal of what is written about it online is designed to frighten people into paying for help they may not need. Plenty of straightforward estates are handled perfectly well by the executor, without a solicitor at all. Some genuinely are not, and knowing the difference before you commit to anything can save your family thousands of pounds.
If it turns out you do need a solicitor, we will happily point you towards a reputable local firm. There is nothing in it for us either way. What we can help with is the part that comes earlier, making sure a will is drafted clearly enough that probate is straightforward when the time comes.
The probate application fee in England and Wales
For estates over £5,000, the court fee rose from £300 to £526 on 13 July 2026. There is no fee for estates under £5,000. That single fee is what an executor pays to apply. Anything a professional charges sits on top of it. Please check the current figure before you rely on it.
Every estate is different, but the pattern is usually clear enough.
You can apply online through the government probate service. Many executors do, and manage perfectly well.
Probate is rarely difficult so much as long. The executor registers the death, finds the will, works out what the estate consists of and what it owes, reports the position to HMRC, applies to the Probate Registry for the grant, then collects in the assets, settles the debts and distributes what is left to the beneficiaries.
The grant itself typically takes somewhere between four and sixteen weeks to come through once the application is in, depending on whether Inheritance Tax forms are needed. Straightforward online applications often come back sooner. Administering the estate in full usually takes nine to twelve months from start to finish, and longer if a property has to be sold.
Executors are personally liable for getting it right. That is the part people underestimate. If you distribute the estate and a creditor appears afterwards, the shortfall can land on you. It is worth taking advice on that point even if you handle the rest yourself.
Obtain several certified copies of the death certificate. You will need more than you expect.
Property, savings, investments, possessions, pensions, and everything owed.
Deal with any Inheritance Tax before the grant can be issued.
The court fee is £526 for estates over £5,000.
Close accounts, pay the debts, then pass on what remains and keep clear records.
Nearly every probate horror story starts in the same place. No will, or a will written so loosely that nobody can tell what was meant. A missing executor. A house owned in a way that nobody had thought about. By the time probate begins, none of that can be fixed.
That is the part we can genuinely help with, and it is worth doing whilst there is no rush. A clearly drafted will, the right executors appointed, and your affairs recorded in one place will save your family more time and money than any amount of help after the event.
Straight answers to what executors ask most, including when you do not need to pay for help.
Not always. If there is a valid will, no Inheritance Tax to pay, straightforward assets and beneficiaries who agree, many executors apply themselves through the government probate service and manage perfectly well. You should take professional advice where Inheritance Tax is due, a business or foreign property is involved, the will is being disputed, there is no will and the family situation is complicated, or a beneficiary is a child or lacks capacity.
The court application fee in England and Wales is £526 for estates over £5,000, having risen from £300 on 13 July 2026. There is no fee for estates under £5,000. That is the only unavoidable cost if you apply yourself. Solicitors and probate specialists charge on top of it, sometimes as a percentage of the estate, so it is worth asking for a fixed quote before you agree to anything.
The grant itself usually arrives between four and sixteen weeks after you apply, and often sooner for a straightforward online application. Administering the whole estate normally takes nine to twelve months, and longer where a property has to be sold or Inheritance Tax is involved.
Usually yes. A will names the executor but it does not by itself give them authority over banks and other institutions. The grant of probate is what does that. Probate can sometimes be avoided where the estate is small, or where everything was held jointly and passes automatically to the surviving owner.
The estate passes under the intestacy rules, which set a fixed order of who inherits regardless of what the person may have wanted. A close relative applies for letters of administration instead of probate. It is slower, it often costs more, and unmarried partners and stepchildren can be left with nothing.
No. We are will writers and members of the Society of Will Writers, not solicitors, and we do not administer estates. If you need someone to take probate on, we will point you to a reputable local firm. What we do is the part that comes earlier, drafting a clear will and appointing the right executors, which is what makes probate straightforward when the time comes.
If you would like your will reviewing, or you are not sure your executors would know where to start, Colin will talk it through with you. Free, no obligation, at your kitchen table or online.