From 13 July 2026, probate application fees in England and Wales are rising from £300 to £526.
That is an increase of £226, or just over 75%. In a wider package of court and tribunal fee changes, that stands out immediately.
The government says more than 170 fees are being updated. Many of those changes are much smaller and are described as inflation-linked increases of 2.6%. The probate rise is a very different story, and it’s in really bad taste!
How the probate increase compares
It is the contrast that catches the eye.
For example, the fee for a request for an order to recover a specified road traffic debt is rising from £10 to £11. That is only £1, although percentage-wise it is still a 10% increase.
The fee for the appointment of a High Court judge is rising from £692 to £710. That is an increase of £18, which is in line with the broader 2.6% uplift.
Probate is different. Shifting probate application fees from £300 to £526 is not a routine inflationary adjustment. It is a substantial jump in a fee that can already arrive at a difficult time for families.
Put another way, the probate application fee is not just rising by a few pounds. It is rising by an amount that many families would notice in any ordinary household budget. For executors trying to work out what the estate process is likely to involve, that is a meaningful change.
What are probate application fees actually for?
The probate application fee is the court fee paid when applying for a grant of probate that is needed to deal with the estate of someone who has died.
It is not the same thing as the full cost of administering an estate. Families may still have other costs to consider, depending on the circumstances, such as death certificates, professional advice, property-related costs, valuation work, or other practical expenses that come with dealing with somebody’s affairs.
That is one reason this change matters. When people first hear a headline figure for probate, they sometimes assume it covers the whole process. It does not. It is one official fee within a wider process that can already feel admin heavy and unfamiliar.
When the fee matters, and when it may not
Not every estate needs a grant of probate. Whether a grant is needed depends on the assets, how they were owned, and what the organisations holding those assets require before they will release or transfer them.
In practice, some estates can be dealt with more simply, while others cannot move forward until the formal grant has been obtained. That means the new fee will not affect every family in exactly the same way, but where a grant is required, the increase is now part of the picture.
That is also why broad probate conversations can become confusing so quickly. Two families may both describe themselves as dealing with probate, but the amount of paperwork, time, and cost involved can be very different.
What this means in practice
There is not much people can do about the fee itself. If a grant of probate is needed, the application fee is part of the cost of dealing with the estate.
Even so, the change is worth knowing about. For executors and families trying to understand the likely cost of an estate, this is a meaningful increase rather than a minor administrative update.
It is also a reminder that estate administration can involve more moving parts, more paperwork, and more cost than many people expect. If you are trying to make things simpler for the people you leave behind, clear estate planning can still make a real difference, even when official fees are outside anyone’s control.
For families already in the middle of an estate, the main value of knowing about the increase is practical. It helps avoid underestimating the likely cost of the application stage. For people planning ahead, it is another example of why the financial and administrative side of death can be harder on a family than many assume.
Why this is more than a technical update
On paper, this is a court fee amendment. In real life, it lands at a point when families may already be grieving, gathering paperwork, and trying to understand unfamiliar rules and timescales.
That is why the scale of the probate increase is worth talking about. A rise from £300 to £526 is not just another quiet administrative adjustment. It is large enough to change the way people think about the likely cost of handling an estate, plus it follows a fairly recent increase only a matter of months ago!
It also highlights something we often see more broadly: people tend to underestimate how much practical administration follows a death. The emotional side is obvious. The paperwork, fees, deadlines, and institutional processes are often less obvious until a family is already in them.
A useful reminder for families
There is no special workaround for the new fee. But it is still useful information, especially for people who are already dealing with probate now, expect to act as an executor in future, or are trying to understand what their family may face later on.
If you are planning ahead, the wider lesson is not really about this one fee in isolation. It is about how much can rest on clear arrangements, sensible paperwork, and realistic expectations. A well-prepared estate plan cannot remove official fees, but it can still reduce confusion and make the process less chaotic for the people left to deal with it.
If you are dealing with probate right now, it may help to think in terms of stages rather than one single cost. The court fee is one stage. The wider estate process may involve others. Understanding that distinction can make the whole process feel more manageable.
If you want to understand probate in plain English, you can also read our Probate page. If your wider aim is to make life easier for your family later on, it is also worth looking at our guidance on Wills.
The official government update is here: Court and tribunal fees updates from July 2026.
This article is intended as general information rather than legal advice on any individual estate. Probate can vary a lot from one situation to another, so case-specific guidance may still be needed in more complex circumstances.
Frequently asked questions about the new probate fee
Common questions.
The new probate application fee takes effect on 13 July 2026 according to the government update.
The fee is rising from £300 to £526.
No. A fee only becomes relevant where the estate needs a grant or related probate application before assets can be dealt with.
No. It is one court fee within the wider estate administration process and families may still face other costs depending on the estate.
If a grant is needed the fee is part of the application process. The main benefit of knowing about it is being able to plan for the cost more realistically.