Costs of Probate copies increase from £1.50 per copy to £16 per copy

Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration are legal documents provided by the Probate Registry which certify an executor/administrator's authority to administer a deceased's estate.

These documents are essential to deal with any land owned by the deceased (except joint tenancies), and essential to deal with most bank accounts and investments that may have been held.

As a result, and since many individual have various different bank accounts and investments across a range of institutions, multiple copies of a Grant of Probate are often required to be sent to all of the relevant institutions. These copies, and the Grant of Probate, must be paid for by the executor personally or through a loan, as the deceased's assets can only be obtained after Probate is granted.

Prior to the The Court and Public Guardian Fees (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2025, this was not a significant expense for the executors. However, following the changes, many executors are having to spend hundreds of pounds on additional copies of documents.

In the same legislation change, the Office of the Public Guardian fee for registration of Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) increased from £82 per LPA to £92 per LPA.