Probate registry fees – An update for charities

We're sure that all charity legacy teams will recall the furore in 2016/2017 when the government proposed sweeping changes to probate registry fees.  The plan was to link fees to the value of estates, with the highest fee being £20,000 for estates worth over £2m.  The proposals came in for a lot of criticism, including from charities, as it was viewed as a form of taxation with no charitable exemption.  When the 2017 general election was called, the proposals were shelved, and this was generally welcomed.  Similar proposals resurfaced in 2018/2019 and, whilst the proposed fees were not quite as large on that occasion, the increases were still significant.  The proposals were met with the same criticism as the previous attempt and, once again, the proposals did not make it into law (arguably with a little helping hand from Brexit, which was of course dominating politics at the time).

Since then, probate registry fees have increased, although not as dramatically as was being proposed in 2016/2017 and 2018/2019.  The most recent change came into effect for applications made on or after 13 July 2026 and took the fee for a grant of representation to £526.  We've included a table below showing how the fees have increased in recent times:

The above relates specifically to the fee for obtaining the grant, and excludes some of the more complicated situations.  It is worth noting that, with effect from 13 July 2026, the fee for obtaining a copy of a grant is £2 when ordered with the application and £16 when ordered separately.  This actually represents a decrease in fees as, for a time prior to 13 July 2026, the £16 fee applied regardless of when the copies were ordered.

The one constant is that, even today, there is no fee if the estate is valued for probate purposes at less than £5,000.

The increases – and especially the most recent one – are significant in percentage terms.  Given that previous increases have been justified partly with reference to inflation (specifically the Consumer Prices Index), it is perhaps a little surprising that this latest increase is so high (and certainly far beyond inflation).  Although, there is always the (valid) point that running the probate registry (and indeed the wider justice system) costs money, especially given that there are planned improvements, e.g. to the on-line application process.  Percentage increases aside, the reality is that the change won't be hugely impactful for most estates.  Whilst prudent applicants (and professionals advising them) will no doubt have done all they can to get applications filed prior to the change on 13 July 2026, the probate registry likely has not suffered an inundation of 2016/2017 and 2018/2019 proportions, as the fee increases are less dramatic.  This will hopefully mean there is little disruption to probate registry service levels as a result of the change.   

The increase does impact the charity legacy sector, as the probate registry fee is generally met from the residuary estate, and of course charities are often residuary beneficiaries (and therefore ultimately suffer the fee).  The impact is not large though.  Recent research by Legacy Futures revealed that, in 2025, there were 41,000 estates that included residuary gifts to charity.  If we assume that number stays broadly the same, and that a grant of representation is required in every estate (which may not be the case), then the impact of the recent fee increase for the sector as a whole might be around £9m. That's a big number when looked at in isolation. 

However, when put against Legacy Futures' other key data point, i.e. that overall residuary legacy income was around £4bn in the same period, it puts the matter firmly into context, i.e. an impact of only around 0.2% to charity legacy income as a whole.  Whilst that's not nothing – and certainly not to be ignored – we suspect charity legacy teams will agree that there are far more impactful things happening in the sector at the moment.