Glossary · UK
What is Probate Application Fee?
The fixed fee payable to the Probate Registry when applying for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration, waived for smaller estates and unaffected by the size of the estate above the threshold.
Full Definition
The probate application fee is a fixed charge payable to HM Courts and Tribunals Service when applying for a Grant of Probate (where the deceased left a valid will naming executors) or Letters of Administration (where there is no will, or no executor able to act). Unlike Inheritance Tax, which is calculated as a percentage of the estate's value above the nil-rate band, the probate fee is a flat amount that does not increase with the size of the estate, once the estate is above the fee-exempt threshold. Estates valued below the exemption threshold pay no probate fee at all, while any estate above that threshold pays the same fixed fee regardless of whether the estate is worth slightly more than the threshold or many millions of pounds. The fee applies per application, not per grant copy, though applicants typically order multiple official copies of the grant (each carrying a small additional per-copy charge) to send simultaneously to banks, pension providers, and other asset holders, since each institution generally wants to see an original sealed copy rather than a photocopy. The fee must usually be paid at the time the application is submitted, whether the application is made by the executor personally (a "litigant in person" application) or through a solicitor or probate specialist acting on the family's behalf, in which case the fee is typically added to the professional's overall bill. Probate fees are separate from, and in addition to, any Inheritance Tax due on the estate, and from solicitors' or probate specialists' own professional fees for handling the estate administration, which are usually charged either as a fixed fee, an hourly rate, or a percentage of the estate's value (commonly 1% to 5% depending on complexity). Because probate cannot usually be granted until any Inheritance Tax that is due has been paid or arrangements have been made to pay it (often funded via the "direct payment scheme" allowing banks to pay IHT directly from the deceased's accounts), executors should budget for the probate fee as a distinct, unavoidable cost of the estate administration process, separate from the eventual IHT bill.