Ministry of Justice says fee changes are intended to strengthen cost recovery, improve consistency and maintain access to justice
The probate application fee will rise to £526 from 13 July 2026 under a package of court and tribunal fee changes announced by the Ministry of Justice, subject to parliamentary approval.
The Ministry of Justice said the increase was intended to recover the cost of an improving probate service and account for inflation and investment in a more efficient and modern system.
The government said the wider package of changes is designed to “strengthen cost recovery, improve consistency in how and where fees are charged, and maintain fair access to justice for all”. The Help with Fees remissions scheme will remain available for people with lower financial means who cannot afford court or tribunal fees.
Across HM Courts and Tribunals Service, 170 fees will increase by 2.6% in line with inflation for 2024/25. A further 27 fees will increase by an average of 34%, equivalent to £6.19, to reflect accumulated inflation, while four fees will be reduced to reflect lower underlying costs.
The package also creates a separate reduced fee for copies of probate documents requested at the same time as a probate application. Instead of paying £16 for copies requested separately, applicants who request probate documents at the same time as their probate application will pay only £2, which the MoJ said would better reflect the cost of providing the service.
Other non-contentious probate fees will also change. The fee for a duplicate or second grant for the same deceased person will rise from £21 to £22, while the fees for entering or extending a caveat and for a standing search will rise from £3 to £4. The fee for depositing a will will increase from £23 to £24.
The court-fee changes also include an exemption for local authorities applying to the family court under section 18 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, known as “Jade’s Law”. That exemption will come into force when the relevant provisions of the Act are commenced.
The Ministry of Justice is also increasing 80 fees across the Residential Property Division of the Property Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal, including fees for leasehold, residential property, park-home and mobile-home cases.
Under the new Property Chamber framework, most case types will attract either £200 for an application and £300 for a hearing, or £114 for an application and £227 for a hearing. Reduced or waived fees will apply to certain cases, including appeals against rent increases, pitch-fee disputes and urgent building-safety matters.
The government said the Property Chamber changes form part of a wider programme of reform to introduce a new fees framework for those cases. Fees for Electronic Communications Code and building-safety cases will remain free until early 2027.