About CalmProbate

Probate is not difficult so much as it is unfamiliar, and it arrives at the worst possible moment. Someone has died. There is a funeral to arrange and people to tell. And then a form turns up that runs to dozens of pages and uses words nobody uses in conversation.

The forms themselves are free, and anyone is entitled to fill them in without a solicitor. GOV.UK says so plainly: you can apply yourself, and it can be cheaper than paying a probate practitioner. But “you are allowed to” and “you feel able to” are different things, and the gap between them is where most people end up paying a professional several thousand pounds, or putting it off for months.

CalmProbate exists to close that gap. It is software that asks ordinary questions and helps you complete your own application from your answers. We are not doing it for you, and we are quite deliberate about that: the executor stays the applicant throughout.

What we sell, and what we do not

We sell software and clear information. We do not sell advice, and we do not prepare anyone's probate papers for them. That is not a positioning choice. Preparing probate papers for another person in expectation of a fee is a reserved legal activity under the Legal Services Act 2007, and a business that is not authorised commits a criminal offence by doing it. Firms that do it for you are regulated to do so. We are not, so we build the other kind of product: a genuine self-help tool.

The practical consequence is a better product anyway. You see your own figures, you check them, and you sign an application you understand. Nobody hands you a document you did not read.

How we write

• Plain words. Where a legal term is unavoidable we translate it the first time it appears. “Grant of representation” means the document the court sends back to you.
• Sources, always. Every figure traces to GOV.UK, HMRC, HMCTS or legislation, and we say when we checked it. See our sources.
• No urgency. No countdowns, no scarcity, no pressure. You are grieving, not shopping.
• No celebration. Finishing a probate application is a relief, not a triumph. We will not throw confetti at someone whose parent has died.
• Honest limits. When something is outside what the tool can safely do, it will say so and point you to a solicitor.

Where things stand

The tool is being built and is not available yet. We do not have a launch date we can honestly promise, so we are not inventing one. What we do have, now and free, are the guides: written from the official sources, for the person who has to do this themselves.

We have published what it will cost, even though you cannot buy it yet, because you would want to know and finding out at the end would waste your time. There is one product and the price follows the estate: £199 where HM Revenue and Customs does not need full details of the estate, £449 where it does and an IHT400 is needed as well. You never have to work out which of those you are — that is our job, and this page explains how it is decided. If the price changes later it changes for people who come later; nobody is ever asked for more than they were shown.

Getting in touch

Email hello@calmprobate.co.uk. If you spot something on this site that does not match GOV.UK, please tell us: we would much rather hear it from you than leave it wrong. We cannot answer questions about your own estate, because that would be advice and we do not give advice.