Probate solicitors and estate administration services: what they do and how to choose
What a probate solicitor or estate administration service does, who is allowed to apply for probate for you, and what to ask before you instruct anyone.
What does a probate solicitor do?
A probate solicitor deals with the legal and financial work of an estate on behalf of the executors, which can be as narrow as preparing the application for the grant of probate or as wide as running the whole estate from the first letter to the final payment. The executors remain the client and stay responsible for the estate, so even when a firm does all of the work it acts on their instructions, and its fees are normally paid out of the estate rather than from the executors' own money.
The label is looser in practice than it sounds. Firms advertising probate services or estate administration services might be solicitors, but they might equally be chartered legal executives, licensed probate practitioners, accountants or businesses that are not regulated as lawyers at all, and the differences between them come down to what each is allowed to do and what protection you have if something goes wrong. Our guide to what an executor does sets out the duties that stay with you whoever you hire.
Grant-only or full estate administration: which do you need?
The services on offer generally fall into two types, and the choice between them depends on how much of the work you want to hand over. A grant-only service (sometimes sold as a grant application service) prepares and submits the application for probate, or for letters of administration where there is no will, and gets the grant back to you, after which you close the accounts, deal with any property, pay the debts and tax and distribute the estate yourself. Full estate administration covers all of that, through to the final estate accounts that beneficiaries are asked to approve.
Grant-only suits a straightforward estate where the executors are organised and have the time, because the application follows a set form whilst much of what comes after it is correspondence and paperwork. Full administration makes more sense when there is inheritance tax to pay, a property to sell from a distance, a business, assets abroad or family members who are likely to disagree, because the stakes for the executors are higher and the work is less predictable. If you are still deciding whether you need anyone at all, our guide to doing probate yourself versus using a solicitor works through that decision in detail.
Who can legally apply for probate on your behalf?
In England and Wales, preparing the papers on which a grant of probate or letters of administration is based is one of the "probate activities" reserved by the Legal Services Act 2007, which means only someone authorised by an approved regulator (or exempt) can do it. The exemption in Schedule 3 covers an individual who does the work otherwise than for a fee, gain or reward, which is why you can prepare your own application as an executor without being a lawyer.
The Legal Services Board's list of approved regulators shows who can authorise probate work:
Solicitors, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
Barristers, regulated by the Bar Standards Board.
Chartered legal executives, regulated by CILEx Regulation.
Licensed conveyancers and licensed probate practitioners, regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers.
Notaries, regulated by the Master of the Faculties.
Chartered accountants accredited by the ICAEW.
Two details on that list catch people out. The ACCA's designation for probate was cancelled on 29 February 2024, so an accountant can no longer do probate work through ACCA membership, and ICAS is approved for probate but does not currently authorise anyone. The ICAEW says its accredited firms have offered probate since 2014, its monitoring report records 321 firms accredited for probate at the end of 2025, and it publishes a probate register so you can check a firm. For solicitors, the SRA's Solicitors Register lets you confirm that both the person and the firm are regulated.
What changes if a will writer or online service is unregulated?
Will writing and the wider administration of an estate are not reserved activities, so a business that is not regulated as a lawyer can legally write wills and collect and distribute estates, provided it passes the grant application itself to an authorised firm or leaves it to the executors. The Competition and Markets Authority's guidance on unregulated legal services (last updated in January 2026) gives the preparation of grants of probate as an example of reserved work these businesses cannot do, and notes that employing solicitors does not make a business regulated.
The practical difference is protection. The CMA points out that unregulated businesses are not legally required to hold professional indemnity insurance and that their customers cannot necessarily use the same complaints and redress routes, whilst the Legal Ombudsman says it can only look into complaints about regulated legal service providers. Plenty of unregulated services are run carefully, although it is still worth asking who carries out the reserved part of the work and which regulator stands behind them, because that answer decides where you can turn if the administration goes badly.
Are bank probate services any different?
Bank probate services follow the same pattern, because the bank is selling a grant-only or full administration service under its own name. Some banks, for example, offer a grant application service for a fixed fee alongside a full estate administration service charged as a percentage of the value of the estate and taken from the estate itself, and the terms may state that the estate administration service is not regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority.
Because a percentage rises with the value of the estate rather than with the amount of work involved, it is worth asking any bank service for its fee as a figure in pounds based on the estate you actually have, and for the name of the regulated firm or team that prepares the grant application, so that you can compare it fairly with a solicitor's quote.
Are you stuck with a professional executor named in the will?
Not necessarily, although you cannot simply dismiss one. When a will appoints a solicitor's firm, a bank or another professional as executor, they are entitled to act and to be paid where the will contains a charging clause, and section 28 of the Trustee Act 2000 treats that entitlement as covering even work a lay executor could have done. Section 35 of the same Act applies those rules to personal representatives and treats the payment as an administration expense, so the fees come out of the estate before the beneficiaries receive their share.
The simplest route is to ask the professional to step aside. An executor gives up the role permanently by signing a renunciation on form PA15, and where a will appoints the partners of a firm without naming them individually and all of them want to step aside, HMCTS has a separate form, PA17, for probate practitioners. A professional is not obliged to renounce, however. If one refuses and there are good grounds for a change, a beneficiary or another personal representative can apply to the High Court under section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985, which allows the court to appoint a substitute or, where there are several executors, to remove one or more of them, although that is a court application with its own costs and is usually a last resort.
How do probate fees work, and what does fixed fee probate include?
Professionals usually charge by the hour, as a fixed fee or as a percentage of the estate, and since 6 December 2018 the SRA's transparency rules have required solicitors who offer uncontested probate to publish price information on their websites. That information has to include the total cost or an average or range, the basis of the charge, the likely disbursements and whether VAT is included, which gives you a fair way to compare one firm's fixed fee probate with another's hourly estimate.
A fixed fee is only as useful as the list of what it covers, so ask whether it stops at the grant or runs to the final distribution, whether it assumes a set number of accounts or a single property, and which disbursements sit outside it. Which? notes that solicitors should give an accurate estimate before they begin, that some will agree a division of labour which may reduce costs, and that a bill which seems excessive can be checked by the court. Our guide to how much probate costs in the UK sets out the court fee and typical price ranges, so the figures are not repeated here.
What should you ask before instructing a probate specialist?
The questions that matter are about scope, price and protection, and a well-run firm will answer them in writing before you sign an engagement letter.
Which regulator authorises you for probate work, and can I check you on its register?
Is this grant-only or full administration, and what exactly is excluded?
What will it cost in pounds, including VAT and disbursements, and what would make the price change?
Who will do the work day to day, and how often will you update us?
When and how will your fees be taken from the estate?
What is your complaints procedure?
The Law Society's guidance on the transparency rules says every solicitors' firm must publish its complaints procedure, including how and when a client can complain to the Legal Ombudsman and the SRA, so the last answer should already be on the firm's website. A firm is entitled to eight weeks to deal with a complaint before the Legal Ombudsman becomes involved, and you generally need to bring it within one year of the problem or of finding out about it, and within six months of the firm's final response. The ombudsman accepts complaints from beneficiaries of an estate as well as from clients, which matters because beneficiaries often bear the cost of slow or expensive administration without being the ones who instructed the firm. Separately, the SRA runs a discretionary fund that can return money to people who have lost it through a dishonest solicitor.
Is it different in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
The reserved activity rules described above apply to probate papers under the law of England and Wales. In Scotland the equivalent of a grant is confirmation, which HMRC's Inheritance Tax Manual describes as a decree of the Sheriff Court authorising the executor to deal with the estate, and the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission is the first point of contact for complaints about lawyers in Scotland. In Northern Ireland, complaints about solicitors are handled by the Law Society of Northern Ireland, whose handling of them is overseen by the Lay Observer.
What to do next
Read the will to see whether a professional executor is named, and if one is, ask early whether they intend to act or would renounce.
Decide which parts you want to do yourself, and read our step-by-step guide to applying for probate to see what the application involves.
Ask two or more regulated providers for written quotes, with grant-only and full administration priced separately.
Check each provider on its regulator's register before you sign anything.
Keep a copy of what you agreed, so that you can compare the final bill with the quote when the estate accounts arrive.
Paying for help does not have to be all or nothing, because you can keep most of the work and buy in only the parts that are slow or specialist, such as the grant application or the job of tracing and closing the person's accounts. Finding every bank, pension, insurer and subscription can be the slowest part of the administration, which is where Legacy Trail's Account Discovery Service fits, since it searches for accounts the family does not know about and then notifies them, whilst our free notification service tells the companies you already know about, whether you are doing the rest yourself or working alongside a solicitor.
Frequently asked questions
No. The law in England and Wales lets an executor prepare their own probate application, because the restriction only applies to people doing it for a fee, so a solicitor is a choice rather than a requirement. Professional help tends to earn its cost where there is inheritance tax to pay, a dispute or assets that are hard to value.
A probate solicitor is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, whereas "probate service" can describe anything from a regulated firm to an unregulated business that handles the estate administration and passes the grant application to someone authorised. Ask any provider which regulator covers it before you agree to anything.
Yes, if the will appoints it. A bank or firm named as executor is entitled to act and to charge where the will allows it, although it can choose to renounce, and the High Court can appoint a substitute if a beneficiary applies and the court agrees.
It is more predictable rather than necessarily cheaper, because the real price depends on what the fixed fee includes and what it leaves out. Solicitors who offer uncontested probate must publish their price information, so compare those pages and ask what would take the work outside the fixed fee.
The fees are normally paid from the estate before the beneficiaries receive their share, rather than by the executors personally. The executors are still the client, so they should agree the price at the outset and check the bill before it is paid.
Yes. The Legal Ombudsman accepts complaints from beneficiaries of an estate, once the firm has had eight weeks to resolve the complaint itself. The ombudsman only covers regulated providers, which is one reason to check regulation before the work starts.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. If you are dealing with an estate, consider taking advice from a solicitor who specialises in probate. For other guidance specific to your circumstances, speak to a funeral director, Citizens Advice, or a regulated financial adviser.