Is a fixed fee always cheaper than an hourly rate?

Not always, but it is always knowable. An hourly rate gives you a price only once the work is finished, so two firms quoting the same rate can bill very different totals for the same estate.

What usually sits outside a fixed fee?

Disbursements: the probate application fee, extra copies of the grant, statutory advertisements, bankruptcy and land registry searches, and any valuation. Firms list these separately because they are paid to somebody else.

Fixed fee probate

A fixed fee is one price for a defined piece of work, agreed before the firm starts, and it is what most firms now publish.

What firms charge

1,152 firms publish a fixed fee for probate work, across 2,746 published figures. The middle of that range is £1,500.

Excludes VAT unless the firm said otherwise, and excludes court fees. Every firm, with its source.

What this covers

A fixed fee is the only price you can compare before instructing anyone. It buys a defined piece of work: usually the grant alone, or the whole administration.

Read what it excludes as closely as what it includes. Court fees, office copies, statutory notices and valuations sit on top, and so does VAT unless the firm says otherwise.

Common questions

Is a fixed fee always cheaper than an hourly rate?: Not always, but it is always knowable. An hourly rate gives you a price only once the work is finished, so two firms quoting the same rate can bill very different totals for the same estate.
What usually sits outside a fixed fee?: Disbursements: the probate application fee, extra copies of the grant, statutory advertisements, bankruptcy and land registry searches, and any valuation. Firms list these separately because they are paid to somebody else.

What would this cost for your estate?

Tell us what you are dealing with once, and firms that publish a price for this work come back with one for your estate. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

Get quotes for this work

Part of probate and estate administration. Every figure on this site comes from the published fee dataset.