Solicitor or YouCanDoProbate?

How we compare against using a solicitor.

What a solicitor does, what it costs, how long it takes, and how YouCanDoProbate compares. No spin. Just the facts.

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The reality

If you are thinking of instructing a solicitor, these are the realities most people only discover afterwards.

Solicitors do an important job, and for certain complicated estates they're genuinely the right choice. But for most standard probate applications, the cost, the timeline and the loss of control aren't explained at the outset.

How much it actually costs

The quote may look reasonable until you add VAT, disbursements, the Probate Registry fee and the hourly rate for anything that takes longer than expected. What started as a fixed fee rarely stays that way.

How long you have to wait

Solicitor-led probate typically takes six to eighteen months from your instruction, and frequently longer. You hand everything over and then wait. Most of that time nothing is happening on your behalf.

You're no longer in control

Once you instruct a solicitor, the timeline is theirs not yours. Chasing updates, waiting for callbacks, not knowing where things are. The process moves at their pace, not yours.

You're still doing most of the work anyway

Yes. The estate information always comes from you. The bank balances, the property valuations, the gift records. A solicitor works from what you provide. You do the gathering. They do the paperwork. At significant cost.

What if something takes longer than quoted?

Most solicitor quotes are either fixed fees that exclude significant extras, or hourly rates with no ceiling. If your estate is more complex than expected, or correspondence takes longer, the cost grows. You rarely know by how much until the bill arrives.

Is a percentage of the estate really fair?

Banks and some solicitors charge 1% to 5% of the estate value. On a £300,000 estate that is £3,000 to £15,000. The size of the estate has no bearing on the amount of work involved.

You don't need
to pay thousands

YouCanDoProbate solves every one of those problems.

YouCanDoProbate was built specifically to remove every one of the reasons people feel trapped into using a solicitor. Here is how.

One fixed price of £499.

No hourly rates. No percentage of the estate. No hidden extras. No VAT on top. The only additional cost is the £526 Probate Registry fee paid directly to HMCTS, the same fee your solicitor would charge on top of their bill.

Most customers receive their Grant within weeks.

Once your forms are posted, most customers receive their Grant within four to eight weeks. Not months. Weeks. You work through the platform at your own pace and post when everything is ready.

You stay in control throughout.

You are the executor. You work through the platform at your own pace. You decide when to do it. You post the forms yourself. The application is yours from start to finish.

The platform does the technical work with your information.

You still gather the estate details. That never changes regardless of which route you take. But instead of handing them to a solicitor and paying thousands, you enter them into the platform and it does everything else automatically.

One price. No surprises.

£499 includes everything. The platform, all your forms, every calculation, every exemption and unlimited support from our UK-based team. Nothing is added on afterwards. Nothing is billed by the hour.

No percentage. Ever.

YouCanDoProbate never charges a percentage of the estate. It does not matter whether the estate is worth £50,000 or £500,000. The price is £499. The same for everyone.

It's the same amount
of work either way

Whatever route you choose, the information comes from you.

The bank statements. The property valuations. The gift records. The beneficiary details. Whether you use a solicitor or YouCanDoProbate, you collect all of this yourself. A solicitor normally works from the information you provide rather than gathering it themselves. Some offer full estate administration and will collect it for you, but that costs considerably more.

What the fee buys is the technical work that follows. The form selection, the calculations, the tax determination, the exemptions, the form completion. YouCanDoProbate does exactly that. Automatically. For £499.

How we compare

The same amount of work. A very different cost.

Here is how YouCanDoProbate compares to a solicitor on every measure that matters.

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How we compare

YouCanDoProbate

High street solicitor

Typical cost

£499 fixed

£1,500 to £10,000+

Percentage of estate taken

Never

Sometimes

Forms completed for you

Estate calculations

Exemptions applied

Inheritance tax worked out

You still gather the information

Unlimited support included

Varies, often billed

Work at your own pace

Typical Grant timeline

3 to 6 weeks from posting

12 weeks or more

No legal knowledge needed

Not required

Scroll right to see full table

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Still not sure about something? Call us on 0800 689 1447 · Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm

We are always completely transparent

Solicitors are not always the wrong choice. For some estates they are exactly right.

We will say this clearly before anything else. There are situations where a solicitor’s involvement is genuinely the right call and we would always recommend one if that is the case.

When you cannot use the platform

Domiciled outside of England or Wales

A surviving spouse domiciled outside of England or Wales

Contested probate or disputed Wills

The deceased made gifts with reservation of benefit.

You need to claim Business Asset Relief (on assets other than unquoted shares)

You need to claim Agricultural Relief

Heritage Assets Conditional Exemption

Assets held in trust for the deceased.

See full eligibility details

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Still not sure about something? Call us on 0800 689 1447 · Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm

See all our reviews

Straightforward and easy to use system

Straightforward and easy to use system. Definitely recommended.

AlanT

From the beginning I have had helpful…

From the beginning I have had helpful advice. Tom has shown oodles of patience. My hearing is not of the best, neither is my eyesight, but I plodded on with his gentle pushing. I have not finished yet, a paper has gone missing which will hold up the finish for a few days. Which this service had been available four years ago!!!

Hazel Stone

Probate application.

This was my 1st time having to apply for probate and it looked pretty daunting. I found YCDP platform online and it made the task easy to follow. Saved me a lot of money not using solicitors. The courts received the application on the 15 April and I received the Grant of Probate 3 weeks later. Fantastic service which I would highly recommend this company.

k.witney

Easy and Simple to use

Stephen

simple system and help available if…

simple system and help available if needede

David Pike

Very helpful app

Very helpful app that is easy and intuitive to use. The one question I needed to ask was answered promptly and helpfully.

Neil R

What a brilliant service

What a brilliant service, a simple money saver. Thoroughly recommended to do Probate yourself. Very well supported by Probate experts on the end of the telephone. I phoned 4 times and nothing was to much trouble. Reasonably simple forms to download and fill in. You can at any point return to the start and edit anything. Even if you make a total hash of it you can start again as many times as you like. It collates all the information you enter into the forms and then when you print it out it is in a recognised format for the HMCTS people. If you are unsure just phone the help line and talk to an expert, if they bare busy they will call you back. I applied for Probate on 29th April, on 12 May I had conformation that Probate had been granted and I would receive my Grant Of Probate paperwork within 10 working days. You cant beat that, well worth the £499.

Website User

Everything clearly explained.

Explained everything clearly. Guided one to do everything in order. You can save what you have inputted, and come back when you have further information. You can’t proceed until you have given all the correct information. Expensive but foolproof.

Patrick Lynn

Such a great help at a time of loss

Steven O'Brien

Made probate very easy

DAVID LAMSDALE

Save a fortune, use YOUCANDOPROBATE!

This service isn’t easy but it is brilliant! From our previous experience of using a solicitor for probate, who asked us to do 80% of the work, searching for bank records, certificates etc. etc. this service was difficult, not easy, but well worth it! The support team are excellent and help with those questions you can’t easily answer. Google helps immensely also. But the real benefit is saving at least 2% up to 5% of an inheritance. That would be most of one of my late mother-in-law’s grandkids inheritance. Bargain price makes it worth it! I am happy to strongly recommend this excellent service!

Liam

Smooth

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

Andrew

AFFORDABLE FIXED PRICE

Forms filled in for you

No expertise needed

Unlimited UK support

Save money, time and stress with YouCanDoProbate

One time payment

£499

including VAT

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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).