Solicitor or YouCanDoProbate?
How we compare against using a solicitor.
What a solicitor does, what it costs, how long it takes, and how YouCanDoProbate compares. No spin. Just the facts.
The reality
If you are thinking of instructing a solicitor, these are the realities most people only discover afterwards.
Solicitors do an important job, and for certain complicated estates they're genuinely the right choice. But for most standard probate applications, the cost, the timeline and the loss of control aren't explained at the outset.
How much it actually costs
The quote may look reasonable until you add VAT, disbursements, the Probate Registry fee and the hourly rate for anything that takes longer than expected. What started as a fixed fee rarely stays that way.
How long you have to wait
Solicitor-led probate typically takes six to eighteen months from your instruction, and frequently longer. You hand everything over and then wait. Most of that time nothing is happening on your behalf.
You're no longer in control
Once you instruct a solicitor, the timeline is theirs not yours. Chasing updates, waiting for callbacks, not knowing where things are. The process moves at their pace, not yours.
You're still doing most of the work anyway
Yes. The estate information always comes from you. The bank balances, the property valuations, the gift records. A solicitor works from what you provide. You do the gathering. They do the paperwork. At significant cost.
What if something takes longer than quoted?
Most solicitor quotes are either fixed fees that exclude significant extras, or hourly rates with no ceiling. If your estate is more complex than expected, or correspondence takes longer, the cost grows. You rarely know by how much until the bill arrives.
Is a percentage of the estate really fair?
Banks and some solicitors charge 1% to 5% of the estate value. On a £300,000 estate that is £3,000 to £15,000. The size of the estate has no bearing on the amount of work involved.
You don't need
to pay thousands
YouCanDoProbate solves every one of those problems.
YouCanDoProbate was built specifically to remove every one of the reasons people feel trapped into using a solicitor. Here is how.
One fixed price of £499.
No hourly rates. No percentage of the estate. No hidden extras. No VAT on top. The only additional cost is the £526 Probate Registry fee paid directly to HMCTS, the same fee your solicitor would charge on top of their bill.
Most customers receive their Grant within weeks.
Once your forms are posted, most customers receive their Grant within four to eight weeks. Not months. Weeks. You work through the platform at your own pace and post when everything is ready.
You stay in control throughout.
You are the executor. You work through the platform at your own pace. You decide when to do it. You post the forms yourself. The application is yours from start to finish.
The platform does the technical work with your information.
You still gather the estate details. That never changes regardless of which route you take. But instead of handing them to a solicitor and paying thousands, you enter them into the platform and it does everything else automatically.
One price. No surprises.
£499 includes everything. The platform, all your forms, every calculation, every exemption and unlimited UK-based expert support. Nothing is added on afterwards. Nothing is billed by the hour.
No percentage. Ever.
YouCanDoProbate never charges a percentage of the estate. It does not matter whether the estate is worth £50,000 or £500,000. The price is £499. The same for everyone.
It's the same amount
of work either way
Whatever route you choose, the information comes from you.
The bank statements. The property valuations. The gift records. The beneficiary details. Whether you use a solicitor or YouCanDoProbate, you collect all of this yourself. A solicitor normally works from the information you provide rather than gathering it themselves. Some offer full estate administration and will collect it for you, but that costs considerably more.
What the fee buys is the technical work that follows. The form selection, the calculations, the tax determination, the exemptions, the form completion. YouCanDoProbate does exactly that. Automatically. For £499.
What the fee buys is the technical work that follows. The form selection, the calculations, the tax determination, the exemptions, the form completion. YouCanDoProbate does exactly that. Automatically. For £499.
How we compare
The same amount of work. A very different cost.
Here is how YouCanDoProbate compares to a solicitor on every measure that matters.
Scroll right to see full table
How we compare
YouCanDoProbate
High street solicitor
Typical cost
£499 fixed
£1,500 to £10,000+
Percentage of estate taken
Never
Sometimes
Forms completed for you
Estate calculations
Exemptions applied
Inheritance tax worked out
You still gather the information
Unlimited support included
Varies, often billed
Work at your own pace
Typical Grant timeline
3 to 6 weeks from posting
12 weeks or more
No legal knowledge needed
Not required
Scroll right to see full table
Still not sure about something? Call us on 0800 689 1447 · Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm
We are always completely transparent
Solicitors are not always the wrong choice. For some estates they are exactly right.
We will say this clearly before anything else. There are situations where a solicitor’s involvement is genuinely the right call and we would always recommend one if that is the case.
When you cannot use the platform
Domiciled outside of England or Wales
A surviving spouse domiciled outside of England or Wales
Contested probate or disputed Wills
The deceased made gifts with reservation of benefit.
You need to claim Business Asset Relief
You need to claim Agricultural Relief
Heritage Assets Conditional Exemption
Assets held in trust for the deceased.
Still not sure about something? Call us on 0800 689 1447 · Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm
AFFORDABLE FIXED PRICE
Forms filled in for you
No expertise needed
Unlimited UK support
Save money, time and stress with YouCanDoProbate
One time payment
£499
including VAT
Additional costs: The probate registry fee of £526 (for all estates over £5,000) and any additional official copies at £2 each. (Payable directly to HM Courts and Tribunals Service by cheque or postal order, enclosed with your application forms).
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