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On or after 1st March 2025
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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.

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 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

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.
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
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.
Still not sure about something? Call us on 0800 689 1447 · Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm
Trustpilot five star rating
This made a very difficult time and…

This made a very difficult time and task painless. I had a few queries which were answered very efficiently. The whole process from start to finish and obtaining probate was 6 weeks.

LCc
Trustpilot five star rating
Probate application

Although my application was fairly straightforward at my age I needed it to be stress free. The help I received and the clear instructions and information made it just that.

W. Noble
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
Easy navigation

Easy to follow, well guided

Carol Lent
Trustpilot five star rating
Extremely helpful

Extremely helpful, friendly and super fast. I went to several solicitors and companies that offer probate – they were all so expensive. YOU DON’T NEED ANYONE. This is an amazing, user friendly system with as much support as you need. Highly reecommended.

Adrian Jones
Trustpilot five star rating
I have rated this 5 star because I…

I have rated this 5 star because I thought the process of data input was logical and made it very easy for a first time probate. I’m not an expert and I’m not fully aware of all the features, I would have liked the ability to have a data input set to have in case the probate office raised questions.

Diane McGowan
Trustpilot five star rating
Cost effective and comprehensive system

The YouCanDoProbate system is very cost effective, comprehensive and relatively easy to use. Most of the steps through filling in the inheritance tax forms and the probate application are straightforward. Any queries can be raised and are quickly and professionally dealt with. So glad I chose this route as opposed to using a solicitor.

Anne Hodson
Trustpilot five star rating
I would highly recommend…

I would highly recommend YouCanDoProbate. I had originally been quoted thousands by the Co-op legal team. It was an extortionate amount, and I thought “Is it really that difficult?” After Googling I came across YouCanDoProbate and read the reviews. At first I thought “What’s the catch?” I did more research to check out the company more, and indeed everything looked genuine, because it is! I signed up, and simply followed all the sections. The web layout/dashboard is very clear and user friendly. Keen to make sure I was accurate in my thinking, I did use the e mail questioning a couple of times. The responses were very quick and thorough, explaining everything clearly and in simple terms. At the end, all forms are generated ready to print. Having spoken to friends who had lost parents recently, they have said all the information they had to provide to a solicitor was the same as I simply had to tap in. They paid the thousands I had been quoted. You can obviously do all this independently, and simply fill in forms yourself, without using YouCanDoProbate even. But if you are like me thinking “Can I do this? What happens if I get it wrong?” Then YouCanDoProbate gives you the easy web layout, all the calculation functions and the ease of a form completed. This service took the fear out of the process as I didn’t feel alone with no support. I also feel proud of myself that I have managed to achieved this without being ripped off by legal companies who want to take a percentage of the estate. Once submitted, my application was processed within 3 weeks, it flew through, which proves it must have been accurate. I would definitely recommend and use again if I ever needed to complete probate in the future.

Janine Mainwaring
Trustpilot five star rating
I am so glad I found this online…

I am so glad I found this online company. I was a bit sceptical at first but as the cost of using a solicitor was fairly considerable I decided to opt for this. I am glad I did. The Probate Platform was easy to use and on the odd occasion that I had a query the telephone support was great. I have just been informed by HMCTS that the application has been approved. I have no hesitation in recommending this company.

John McGuire
Trustpilot five star rating
Easy to use

Easy to use , never needed to contact them , awaiting the grant but confident having used you can do probate I’m not expecting mistakes

Debbie Zappa
Trustpilot five star rating
I can recommend this site.

The set was easy to access and user friendly. It was good to be able to go in and out of the site to input data as it became available. The phone line was an additional help to guide me through.

Lesley Cree
Trustpilot five star rating
EASY TO USE AND AFFORDABLE PROBATE SITE

It is an excellent, easy to use site and refreshingly dispenses with having to use a solicitor and avoids their unnecessary high fees.

Mr Crighton
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
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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