The Labour Party government has confirmed an increase to the probate application fee to £526, effective from July 2026. The new fee recovers the cost of an ever-improving service, accounting for rising inflation and investment in delivering an efficient and modern service.
Reduced Fee for Document Copies
The government also promised a separate, reduced fee for requesting copies of probate documents concurrently with the probate application. Instead of the previous £16, the fee will be only £2, better reflecting the cost of that service.
Property Chamber Fee Changes
Alongside probate changes, the government confirmed an increase to 80 fees across the Residential Property Division of the Property Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal. This includes fees for leasehold cases, most residential property cases, and park and mobile home cases. These changes represent the second tranche of a wider reform programme introducing a new fees framework.
The new framework sets fees at one of five tiers, depending on case type and access to justice considerations. Most case types will attract fees of £200 for an application and £300 for a hearing, or fees of £114 for an application and £227 for a hearing. A small set of case types have further reduced fees: £47 for applications to appeal a rent increase (hearing fees waived); £23 for applications to determine a pitch fee (hearing fees waived); and no fees for matters relating to urgent building safety matters.
Implementation and Exemptions
These July changes apply the new framework to most cases in the Property Chamber. Fees for Electronic Communications Code and building safety cases will remain free of charge until early 2027.
Industry Reaction
Heather Parker, head of private client at Nottingham firm Actons Solicitors, criticised the increase. She said: "Over recent years we've seen these fees more than double all in the name of better systems, better efficiency, better user experience. In reality though we are still seeing families wait months at a time, during what is already a period of grief and stress for their application to go through the system and it is hard to justify the increase in costs to clients when there is no discernible improvement in the service being provided."
