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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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 are genuinely the right choice. But for most standard probate applications, these are the issues people wish someone had told them about before they signed.
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?
What YouCanDoProbate does instead
Every one of those problems, solved.
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 UK-based expert support. 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.
Here is what most people only realise afterwards
Whichever way, you have to gather the information yourself.
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.
“Solicitors wanted to charge me between £2300 and £2700! They made it sound very complicated. I contacted this firm who offered a fixed fee of £500.”
Richard Buckingham
Verified Trustpilot Review
How we compare
The same amount of work. A very different cost and timeline.
Here is how YouCanDoProbate compares to a solicitor on every measure that matters.
Scroll right to see full table
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
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
You need to claim Agricultural Relief
Heritage Assets Conditional Exemption
Assets held in trust for the deceased.
“Makes doing probate yourself possible, saving a lot of money on legal fees and considerably speeding up the process!”
Dave
Verified Trustpilot Review
We're rated
Excellent.
Real stories from real people
From people who considered a solicitor and chose YouCanDoProbate instead.
Thousands of people have used YouCanDoProbate to apply for probate without a solicitor, saving money and stress at one of the hardest times in their lives.
Quoted thousands
“I was quoted thousands to outsource the probate process. I thus thought whether I could do it myself.”
Tanvir Khondaker
Verified Trustpilot Review
First time doing it
“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.”
k.witney
Verified Trustpilot Review
Saved thousands
“Simple, well laid out, easy to complete. Sent off 4 weeks later received notice its been accepted and probate granted, saved thousands on using a solicitor.”
andrew
Verified Trustpilot Review
Beat a £4,000 quote
“My wife died recently and left £130K in ISA’s and savings. I was stimulated to try You Can Do Probate by a solicitor’s quote of £4000 to do the same!”
john kinghorn
Verified Trustpilot Review
Advice when needed
“Very easy to use and as they say you can contact any number of occasions as I did twice for advice.”
Leslie Barnes
Verified Trustpilot Review
Did it without a solicitor
“As someone who is experienced doing tax returns, I was determined to try and do probate without handing everything over to a solicitor.”
Liz Long
Verified Trustpilot Review
“A very professional company and service, so easy to use from start to finish, but always available to answer any questions quickly, no matter how trivial, saved so much money”
Julian Scheimann
Verified Trustpilot Review
One fair
fixed price.
How much does it cost?
No hidden extras. No hourly rates. No percentage of the estate.
The price you see is the price you pay, whether your estate is simple or involves inheritance tax.
One time payment
£499
including VAT
The only additional cost is the official £526 Probate Registry fee for estates over £5,000, paid directly to HMCTS by cheque or postal order enclosed with your printed application.
Want to talk to us first?
Call 0800 689 1447 · Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm
Call 0800 689 1447 · Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm
Try it risk-free.
14 Day Money Back
Guarantee
Guarantee
T&Cs apply.
What's included?
Everything you need to apply, in one price
-
Probate forms completed for you
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Inheritance tax forms completed when required
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Guided, step-by-step probate journey
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Automatic estate calculations and exemptions
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Full submission guidance: what to send, where, and how
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Unlimited support by phone, email, live chat and ticket
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Integrated written and video guidance
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Save your progress and return any time
Available for
almost any estate.
Who can use YouCanDoProbate?
YouCanDoProbate works for nearly any estate in England and Wales
The platform is designed to support almost any estate in England and Wales, including those with an inheritance tax liability. There are some situations where it is worth speaking to us first, and the small number of cases where a different route would serve you better.
You can use our platform when
The person died on or after 1 January 2022
If the death was before this date please call us on 0800 689 1447 as we may still be able to help you on our legacy platform.
They were domiciled (or a long-term UK resident living) in England or Wales
You cannot use the platform if the deceased was not domiciled in England or Wales or if they were married or had a civil partner, their surviving spouse was not domiciled in England or Wales.
Not sure? Call us before registering and we will tell you honestly. Call 0800 689 1447 · Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm
Died with a valid Will or without a Will
Assets outside the UK
PA1P and PA1A Probate forms
IHT400 IHT forms inc. all schedules
Spousal and Charitable exemptions
Transfer of Nil Rate Band (TNRB)
Residence Nil Rate Band (RNRB)
Transfer of Residence Nil Rate Band (TRNRB)
Worth a quick chat with us first
You may still be able to use the platform in these situations. Please speak to us before you start.
A claim for a Reduced Rate of Inheritance Tax. (Not available in the platform but can be completed independently).
When you cannot use the platform
In addition to the domicile outside of England or Wales if any of the following apply to the person who died or their estate you cannot use our platform.
Common questions
Some quick answers.
Yes. The only additional cost is the £526 Probate Registry fee for estates over £5,000, paid directly to HMCTS. That fee applies regardless of which route you take. No hourly rates, no percentages, no extras.
YouCanDoProbate covers the vast majority of estates in England and Wales, with or without a Will and including those with an inheritance tax liability. Not sure? Call us before registering. 0800 689 1447.
No. There is no legal requirement to use a solicitor to apply for probate in England and Wales. Thousands of people apply themselves every year. YouCanDoProbate handles the technical parts that make it complicated so you can apply correctly without any legal knowledge.
Unlimited support is included in your £499. Phone, email, live chat, scheduled callback and screen share. Real UK-based people who know probate, available throughout your application.
Click Get Started, complete your registration and payment, and you have immediate access to the platform. Log in as soon as you are ready and work through the process at your own pace.
Still not sure about something? Call us on 0800 689 1447 · Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm
Want to know more first?
See the price
One fixed price of £499. Here is exactly what that covers.
See how it works
See exactly how straightforward this is, from your first question to your completed forms.
Got questions?
Every question answered about the platform, the price and the comparison.
The same outcome as a solicitor. For £499.
Less cost. Less time. Less stress.
Work at your own pace with expert support throughout. Your Grant of Probate without paying thousands you do not have to pay.
Try it risk-free · 14 Day Money Back Guarantee
Call 0800 689 1447 · Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm
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