Our Fees: Wills, Powers of Attorney and Probate

Below is what we charge and what the court charges. The two are different things and we list them separately, because a quote that rolls them together is a quote you cannot compare against anyone else's.

Every figure is exclusive of VAT unless stated. VAT is charged at 20%.

Wills

Fixed fees, agreed in writing before we start. No hourly billing on will drafting.

Service	Our fee	VAT	Total
Single will	£250	£50	£300
Two wills for a couple (mirror wills)	£350	£70	£420
Codicil, per codicil	£100	£20	£120

A codicil is a supplement to an existing will and suits small changes, such as swapping an executor or a beneficiary. Where the changes are substantial, a fresh will is usually cheaper and safer than stacking codicils, and we will tell you which applies before you commit.

Storage of your original will is included at no charge. Wills involving trusts, business assets, agricultural property or assets abroad are quoted individually, because they take longer to draft and we would rather price them properly than quote a headline figure and revise it later.

See single wills and mirror wills for what is covered.

Lasting powers of attorney

Service	Our fee	VAT	Total
One LPA	from £300	from £60	from £360
Both LPAs for one person	from £450	from £90	from £540
Both LPAs for a couple, four documents	from £900	from £180	from £1,080

Plus the Office of the Public Guardian registration fee, payable to the OPG and not to us.

Disbursement	Amount
OPG registration, per LPA	£92
Both LPAs, one person	£184
Both LPAs, a couple	£368

The OPG fee rose from £82 to £92 for applications received on or after 17 November 2025. A 50% reduction to £46 per LPA is available where the donor's gross annual income is under £12,000, and full exemption where the donor receives certain qualifying benefits. Both are applied for on form LPA120 at the same time as registration. From 2 February 2026 Universal Credit no longer qualifies automatically for full exemption.

Our fee is quoted "from" because an LPA with detailed instructions and preferences, or with attorneys appointed jointly for some decisions and jointly and severally for others, takes longer to draft than a straightforward one. We confirm the figure before we start. More on registering a lasting power of attorney.

Probate and estate administration

Why there is no single number on this page

Nobody can quote a probate fee accurately without knowing what is in the estate. An estate with one property and three bank accounts, and an estate with a share portfolio, a lifetime trust, gifts made in the last seven years and a beneficiary nobody can find, are not the same job. Any firm that quotes one figure for both before seeing the papers is guessing.

So instead of a headline number, here is exactly how we charge, so you can work out what your estate is likely to cost and compare it against anyone else.

The two bases

Probate is charged either at an hourly rate or at 1% of the estate. We agree which applies with you at the outset, in writing, before you instruct us.

Basis one: hourly rate. Time recorded against the fee earner acting.

Fee earner	Hourly rate	VAT	Total per hour
Jacqueline Scott, Solicitor	£375	£75	£450
Sophie Squire, Solicitor	£250	£50	£300

Basis two: 1% of the estate. One per cent of the gross value of the estate plus VAT, with no time recording. On a £400,000 estate that is £4,000 plus VAT, £4,800 including VAT.

Gross estate	Our fee at 1%	VAT	Total
£250,000	£2,500	£500	£3,000
£400,000	£4,000	£800	£4,800
£600,000	£6,000	£1,200	£7,200
£900,000	£9,000	£1,800	£10,800

Worked examples, not a scale. Your fee is 1% of your estate, whatever that figure turns out to be.

Percentage probate charges in England and Wales commonly run between 1% and 5% of the estate, with most sitting around 1.5% to 2.5% for a straightforward estate. Many firms add the percentage on top of hourly billing, as what is traditionally called a value element, so the estate pays both.

We do neither. Our percentage is 1%, it is the lowest end of the range, and it is an alternative to the hourly rate rather than an addition to it. We price to be competitive locally and nationally, and we would encourage you to check us against two or three other firms before you instruct anyone.

Which basis suits you

The hourly rate usually costs less on a large but simple estate. A £900,000 estate made up of a house and three accounts is not nine times the work of a £100,000 estate made up of a house and three accounts, but at 1% it costs nine times as much.

The percentage usually costs less on a modest but complicated estate, and it has the advantage that you know the number early. Where there are untraceable assets or a difficult inheritance tax position, hourly billing can run past what 1% would have cost.

We will tell you which we think is better for you, including when that is the cheaper one for us.

What drives the hours up

• Assets with no paperwork, which have to be traced
• An inheritance tax return on the IHT400 route rather than the shorter excepted-estate route
• Claiming a transferable nil-rate band or the residence nil-rate band from an earlier death
• Property requiring formal valuation rather than an estate agent appraisal
• Missing or untraceable beneficiaries
• A beneficiary who is a minor, bankrupt, or lacks capacity
• Foreign assets, which usually need a local advocate as well as us

We do not act in contested estates. Where a will is challenged, or someone brings a claim against the estate, we will tell you early and refer you to a firm that specialises in it. Both bases above cover uncontested work only.

Key stages, and how long each takes

Stage	What happens	Typical duration
1. Establishing what there is	Writing to institutions, obtaining date-of-death valuations, identifying debts	4 to 12 weeks, largely dictated by third-party response times
2. Inheritance tax	Reporting to HMRC, establishing whether the estate is excepted, arranging payment where tax is due	2 to 8 weeks, longer where HMRC clearance is required
3. Applying for the grant	Preparing and submitting the application to the Probate Registry	Subject to Probate Registry processing times, which vary
4. Collecting in and paying out	Closing accounts, encashing investments, selling or transferring property, settling debts	4 to 20 weeks, dependent on whether property needs selling
5. Distribution and accounts	Distributing to beneficiaries, preparing estate accounts	2 to 6 weeks

A straightforward estate commonly takes six to twelve months from death to distribution. These are typical durations rather than guarantees. An estate with a property to sell, or a contested position, will take longer.

More on probate and estate administration.

Court fees and disbursements on probate

Paid to third parties. We do not mark them up.

Disbursement	Amount	Payable to
Probate application fee, estates over £5,000	£526	HM Courts and Tribunals Service
Probate application fee, estates of £5,000 or less	nil	HMCTS
Sealed copies of the grant, ordered with the application	£2 each	HMCTS
Sealed copies of the grant, ordered afterwards	£16 each	HMCTS
Second grant for the same estate	£22	HMCTS
Official copy of a title register	£3 per title	HM Land Registry
Bankruptcy search against a beneficiary	At cost	HM Land Registry, Land Charges Department
Statutory notices under section 27 Trustee Act 1925	At cost, at the published rates	The Gazette and a local newspaper

The probate application fee rose to £526 on 13 July 2026, from £300. It was £273 until January 2025. If you have seen a lower figure quoted elsewhere, that is why.

Order the sealed copies you need at the same time as the application. At £2 each with the application and £16 each afterwards, guessing low is an expensive way to save money. Most estates need one copy for each bank, one for each share registrar, and one for the property.

How to compare a probate quote

Three questions, and you can ask them of any firm.

1. Is this an hourly rate, a percentage of the estate, or both? A number of firms charge a percentage on top of hourly billing rather than instead of it. Ask which, and get the answer in writing. Ours is one or the other, never both.
2. Does the figure include the court fee? If it does, ask what happens if the fee changes mid-matter, because it has changed twice in eighteen months. Our figures are our costs only. The court fee is listed above and passed on at cost.
3. What is included, and what triggers extra? Property sale, the inheritance tax return, estate accounts and statutory notices are the four items most often left out of a headline figure.

We are happy for you to ask us those three questions and take the answers elsewhere.

To discuss a will, a lasting power of attorney, or probate and estate administration, call 01628 777233 or email enquire@jscottlegal.co.uk. We confirm the basis of our charges in writing before you instruct us.

J Scott Legal, 47 High Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 1JT. Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA number 621898.