Solicitor cost for probate what to expect?

[Babymamamama]

Any solicitors or executors able to advise please? Would be super appreciated as I have no clue. Sadly a beloved elderly relative had recently passed.

I have had a couple of solicitor firms give me an estimate of cost for them handling the probate for myself and the other executors. The quotes seem quite high to me. Would anyone mind sharing their experiences of this? To get an idea what is actually reasonable. I’m wondering if the charge varies based on the size of the estate, or the complexity. Or other factors? TIA.

My dad's solicitor said it would cost us £1000 for them to handle the probate but they said it would be cheaper to do it ourselves, we did and it cost around £290 which included copies of the grant of probate.

A friend was told her mum's solicitor would charge £2000 for them to do it. I told her how easy it was and she did it herself in the end.

It is really easy to do online and if it's a straightforward estate, it's definitely worth doing it yourself.

Honestly, the form is really straight forward.
If the estate is small enough to not incur inheritance tax then DIY is VERY easy.
At the very least down load the form and read it through. If you have any questions there's a helpline to ring.

Do you know any accountant/bookkeeping type friends who are organised financially? Ask if they can help by overseeing what you do.
Failing that many accountant firms will do probate for cheaper

@Ariela

Failing that many accountant firms will do probate for cheaper

Not any more they won't. They now need a separate authorisation/regulation/qualification/enhanced insurance to do probate work - it's knocked the smaller/independent one man band type of firms out of the market.

I used to help out small/simple clients, either by showing them how to complete the paperwork or doing it for them, but had to stop doing it as I wasn't doing enough to warrant the cost/time/hassle/extra insurance costs of meeting the new regulations, and I knew I wouldn't be able to charge enough to make it worthwhile for just occasional clients.

Expect to wait a long time and check all of their calculations