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Costs and fees

DIY Probate vs Solicitor: An Honest Cost Comparison

Two routes are commonly considered for Probate: instructing a solicitor, or handling it yourself. This article compares both honestly, including a third option that sits between the two.

What a solicitor provides

Handles the technical paperwork on your behalf: IHT400, Probate application, liaising with HMRC and the Probate Registry. You are responsible for providing all the estate information.

Cost: typically £1,500 to £5,000 or more for a straightforward estate. Percentage-based fees can reach £10,000 to £20,000 on larger estates.

What doing it entirely yourself provides

Using GOV.UK guidance and completing all forms yourself means you pay only the unavoidable government fees.

Cost: government fees only (£526 Probate Registry fee plus £2 per copy of the Grant).

Risk: errors in the IHT400 can cause delays, HMRC queries, and incorrect tax calculations. There is no support if you get stuck.

What YouCanDoProbate provides

The platform does the technical work (forms, calculations, exemptions) while you provide the estate information, just as you would with a solicitor. The difference is the cost.

Cost: £499 inc. VAT, all-inclusive, no add-ons.

Included: PA1P or PA1A, full IHT400 and all supplementary schedules, every exemption applied automatically, unlimited UK-based expert support, ICAEW accreditation, 4.9 Excellent on Trustpilot.

The honest recommendation

For most estates in England and Wales, YouCanDoProbate is the smarter choice. The only reason to instruct a solicitor is genuine legal complexity: contested Wills, complex trusts, business asset reliefs, or overseas assets. For everything else, our platform provides the same technical quality at a fraction of the cost.

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Trustpilot five star rating
Exceptional company

Exceptional company. Made the whole process incredibly easy for me and I had to ask multiple questions at which time there was always someone approachable to ask. I would not hesitate to recommend. Very professional easy to use platform. Cannot thank them enough for their help.

jacqueline fawcett
Trustpilot five star rating
Excellent produce and service

Looked carefully at online support for undertaking probate and decided to use this company due to the consistently high Trustpilot feedback. It did not disappoint. The process is easy to follow, excellent support documentation and I made use of the Support telephone service once – which was prompt and helpful.

angela french
Trustpilot five star rating
I was bit hesitant about using them

I was bit hesitant about using them, but OMG im so glad I made initial contact with them, they were so helpful, they answer my questions & put me @ ease, solicitors quoted thousands to do it for me, so I took the plunge, had forms to fill out & if u had any questions they were only a phone call away definitely 10/10

Sue
Trustpilot five star rating
Very easy to use, 1st class service

Very easy to use and as they say you can contact any number of occasions as I did twice for advice. When you think I was quoted three times as much, therefore I would say they were value for money. If only the probate service was as quick.

Leslie Barnes
Trustpilot five star rating
Excellent Service

i recently used you can do probate and found the whole process quite straight forward , its a lot cheaper than engaging probate solicitors and the advice and support you can do probate offer is very good , if you need to book a call for advice you get it same day normally within the hour of booking it

Stephen Knight
Trustpilot five star rating
Probate forms

When completing the forms, any query I had as soon as I emailed them they got back to me straight away. Also it would not let you finish the section until you had filled out all that was needed. Helpful that you could save and go back in when you had the answer you needed.

anna smullen
Trustpilot five star rating
My mother died in March this year and I…

My mother died in March this year and I now have an IHT421 AND Probate. Very happy with the process and occasional need to call for guidance. Callbacks were always prompt and informed. The idea of having a named case worker is as particularly helpful.

Mike B
Trustpilot five star rating
Great software that made the process easier

Really nice to use software that wrapped over the top of the Gov UK forms. Found it much simpler to use and collected all the required information. Would recommend to others, especially if doing for the first time.

Steve S
Trustpilot five star rating
Very easy to use

Very easy to use; user friendly, good people to deal with, very helpful, great software, well designed

M J Roberts Associates Ltd
Trustpilot five star rating
First time having to go through the…

First time having to go through the probate process, so used this service for peace of mind.had. A call back very quickly on a query I had sent the forms off and received my ref number after two weeks. And probate was granted the following week. Can’t recommend this service enough.

martyn wykes
Trustpilot five star rating
Smooth

Any problem that I came up against, was sorted out over the phone , I highly recommend youcandoprobate

Andrew
Trustpilot five star rating
I signed up with trepidation having…

I signed up with trepidation having never had to do this before!! However I managed all the form filling with ease and much to my surprise did not have to telephone for help once. I am 70 years of age and would not describe myself as a computer expert in anyway and am a bit of a dinosaur! I would not hesitate to use this service again and will certainly recommend it if asked. For the record I received official notification and paperwork from HMC and Justices that probate had been granted within 21 days of posting the forms. Perhaps I was lucky but this service was idiot proof and saved me the cost of a solicitor.

ken roberts
AFFORDABLE FIXED PRICE
Forms filled in for you
No expertise needed
Unlimited UK support
Save money, time and stress with YouCanDoProbate
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£499

including VAT
Additional costs: The probate registry fee of £526 (for all estates over £5,000) and any additional official copies at £2 each. (Payable directly to HM Courts and Tribunals Service by cheque or postal order, enclosed with your application forms).
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© YouCanDoProbate • YouCanDoProbate is a trading name of Kabing Ltd.
YouCanDoProbate is an online platform providing legal forms and information. YouCanDoProbate is not a law firm and is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Our online probate and inheritance tax service is an online platform providing probate and inheritance tax forms and information to allow you to complete inheritance tax returns and apply for probate yourself. Our telephone, email and livechat support provides guidance only, we do not provide bespoke advice, including estate planning or tax advice and it is not a substitute for a lawyer’s advice about complex estate planning or tax issues.
© Kabing Ltd | All Rights Reserved. Company number 12125399.

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