Our sources
Every figure and deadline on this site comes from a primary source: GOV.UK, an HMRC manual, an HMCTS form, or legislation itself. None of it is written from memory. This page lists all of them, with the date each was last checked.
We are publishing this because getting a threshold or a form number wrong, on a site read by people who are grieving and working to a deadline, is not a small mistake. If you spot something here that no longer matches GOV.UK, please tell us and we will fix it.
All figures below last checked: 2026-09-17. Rules can change, and the rules that apply to an estate are generally those in force at the date of death rather than today. Always check GOV.UK for the current position.
Figures we use
£526
The probate application fee in England and Wales is £526 where the estate is over £5,000.
GOV.UK — Applying for probate: Fees — checked 2026-09-17
£5,000
There is no application fee if the estate is £5,000 or less.
GOV.UK — Applying for probate: Fees — checked 2026-09-17
£2
Extra sealed copies of the probate document cost £2 each when ordered with the application.
GOV.UK — Applying for probate: Fees — checked 2026-09-17
£16
Additional copies ordered after the application has been submitted cost £16 each.
GOV.UK — Applying for probate: Fees — checked 2026-09-17
£22
A second application, where probate has already been granted, costs £22 regardless of estate value.
GOV.UK — Applying for probate: Fees — checked 2026-09-17
12 weeks
You will usually get probate within 12 weeks of submitting your application; it can take longer if further information is needed.
GOV.UK — Applying for probate: Apply for probate — checked 2026-09-17
up to 12 weeks
HMCTS states a postal application can take up to 12 weeks to process if there is no delay in receiving documents, and asks applicants not to chase before then.
HMCTS — How to apply for probate by post if there is a will — checked 2026-09-17
5 days
A death must be registered within 5 days of the medical examiner confirming you can register it (8 days in Scotland). This includes weekends and bank holidays.
GOV.UK — What to do after someone dies: Register the death — checked 2026-09-17
28 days
You must use the Tell Us Once service within 28 days of getting your unique reference number from the registrar.
GOV.UK — What to do after someone dies: Tell Us Once — checked 2026-09-17
end of the sixth month after the death
Inheritance Tax must be paid by the end of the sixth month after the person died, or HMRC charges interest.
GOV.UK — Pay your Inheritance Tax bill — checked 2026-09-17
12 months
If the estate owes Inheritance Tax you must report its value within one year using form IHT400, and you cannot apply for probate until you have done so.
GOV.UK — Applying for probate: What is probate — checked 2026-09-17
£325,000
There is normally no Inheritance Tax to pay if the value of the estate is below the £325,000 threshold.
GOV.UK — How Inheritance Tax works: thresholds, rules and allowances — checked 2026-09-17
40%
The standard Inheritance Tax rate is 40%, charged only on the part of the estate above the threshold.
GOV.UK — How Inheritance Tax works — checked 2026-09-17
36%
The estate can pay a reduced Inheritance Tax rate of 36% on some assets if 10% or more of the net value is left to charity.
GOV.UK — How Inheritance Tax works — checked 2026-09-17
£500,000
If a home is given to children or grandchildren the threshold can increase to £500,000.
GOV.UK — How Inheritance Tax works — checked 2026-09-17
£3,000,000
For an exempt excepted estate where the death was on or after 1 January 2022, the gross value of the estate must not exceed £3,000,000 (£1,000,000 for earlier deaths).
HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM06013 — exempt excepted estates — checked 2026-09-17
£100,000
For deaths on or after 1 January 2022, if the estate includes foreign assets their gross value must not exceed £100,000.
HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM06013 — checked 2026-09-17
£250,000
For deaths on or after 1 January 2022, the chargeable value of any specified transfers (broadly, certain gifts in the 7 years before death) must not exceed £250,000.
HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM06018 — specified transfers — checked 2026-09-17
£250,000
For a low value excepted estate with assets held in trust, they must be in a single trust with a gross value not exceeding £250,000.
HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM06012 — low value estates — checked 2026-09-17
£1,500
GOV.UK suggests getting a professional valuation for anything in the estate worth over £1,500; cheaper items such as ordinary household goods can be estimated.
GOV.UK — If Inheritance Tax is due or full details are needed — checked 2026-09-18
£650,000
An estate is usually an excepted estate if it is worth £650,000 or less and any unused threshold is being transferred from a spouse or civil partner who died first.
GOV.UK — Check if you need to send full details of the estate — checked 2026-09-18
£150,000
Where the person who died was living permanently outside the UK, the estate is usually an excepted estate if the value of their UK assets is £150,000 or less.
GOV.UK — Check if you need to send full details of the estate — checked 2026-09-18
£1,000,000
For an exempt excepted estate with assets in trust, they must be held in a single trust whose gross value does not exceed £1,000,000 and whose net chargeable value does not exceed £250,000.
HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM06013 — checked 2026-09-17
£322,000
Where someone dies intestate leaving a spouse or civil partner and children, the fixed net sum ("statutory legacy") charged to the estate in favour of the surviving spouse or civil partner is £322,000, for deaths on or after 26 July 2023.
The Administration of Estates Act 1925 (Fixed Net Sum) Order 2023 (SI 2023/758), article 2 — checked 2026-09-17
All sources
- GOV.UK — Applying for probate: Apply for probate — checked 2026-09-17
- GOV.UK — Applying for probate: Fees — checked 2026-09-17
- GOV.UK — Applying for probate: What is probate — checked 2026-09-17
- GOV.UK — Check if you need to send full details of the estate — checked 2026-09-18
- GOV.UK — How Inheritance Tax works: thresholds, rules and allowances — checked 2026-09-17
- GOV.UK — If Inheritance Tax is due or full details are needed — checked 2026-09-18
- GOV.UK — Pay your Inheritance Tax bill — checked 2026-09-17
- GOV.UK — What to do after someone dies: Register the death — checked 2026-09-17
- GOV.UK — What to do after someone dies: Tell Us Once — checked 2026-09-17
- HMCTS — How to apply for probate by post if there is a will — checked 2026-09-17
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM06012 — low value estates — checked 2026-09-17
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM06013 — exempt excepted estates — checked 2026-09-17
- HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual IHTM06018 — specified transfers — checked 2026-09-17
- The Administration of Estates Act 1925 (Fixed Net Sum) Order 2023 (SI 2023/758), article 2 — checked 2026-09-17
How we keep this accurate
- Every figure lives in one file in our codebase alongside its source URL and the date it was verified. Copy across the site reads from that file, so a figure cannot be updated in one place and left stale in another.
- Our build refuses to publish if a money figure appears in a guide that does not match that file. A stale number fails the build rather than reaching a reader.
- We cite the primary source, never a summary of it on another commercial site. Where the rule is in legislation, we link the legislation.
- We date everything, because probate and inheritance tax rules are tied to the date of death, not to today.