The Hidden Cost: Did the New £16 Probate Fee Just Lock in a Two-Tier System?

While the public and legal community face a 967% fee jump to £16 for a copy Will, a specific clause in the Statutory Instrument appears to keep commercial bulk data access at the nominal £1.50 rate.

This isn’t an anomaly—it re-establishes a dramatic pricing disparity, raising serious questions about equitable access to public records.

The Precedent: The 2019 Fee Tumble

The impending £16 fee marks a full circle moment following the last major change. Before July 2019, the statutory fee for a copy Will or Grant was £10.00. That month, the government slashed the fee to £1.50 for all users. This dramatic reduction was a direct consequence of a decision to end a private, bulk-access arrangement with commercial data providers (like Smee & Ford), forcing them to pay the public statutory fee per document. The £1.50 was intended to cushion that change.

The £10 fee that was in place since 2017 this was double the previous change of £5 and was introduced in at the same time as the localized probate registries were closed. Had the £10 charge simply been adjusted for the RPI up to the current date (November 2025), it would be approximately £14.60.

The new £16 fee, therefore, not only exceeds the inflation-adjusted value of the old £10 fee but implements a two-tier system that severely punishes targeted public/solicitor access.

The Statutory Breakdown: Two Fees, Two Users

The key lies in the language used to define how the request is made:

Fee Type

• Fee 6(1)(a) General Public / Solicitors (Specific Orders)

For a copy of a document of a named individual in the request.£16.00

• Fee 6(1)(b) Commercial Data Suppliers (Bulk Feed)

Copies of documents of individuals not named in the request, made available in electronic form. £1.50

The £1.50 Loophole for Bulk Data

The £1.50 clause (Fee 6(1)(b)) is crucial. Firms like Smee & Ford, which receive an electronic feed of all Wills and Grants as they pass through probate (i.e., they are not asking for a “named individual”), appear to fall under this significantly reduced fee.

The Net Result:

• Public/Solicitor: Price increased 967% (from £1.50 to £16.00).
• Commercial Bulk Buyer: Price remains virtually unchanged at £1.50.

The 2019 change successfully forced all users to pay a per-document fee (correcting the pre-2019 policy), but has simultaneously created a disparity between those accessing a specific record and those accessing the entire data stream.

The Ethical and Commercial Debate

This two-tier structure demands discussion in the legal community:

1. Transparency: Does this arrangement undermine the principle that public records should be equally accessible to all users, regardless of commercial status?
2. Cost Recovery: If the true cost of search and archival is £16, why is the electronic bulk transfer fee kept at a nominal £1.50? Is this an indirect subsidy for the charity sector that relies on legacy notification services?
3. Advocacy: Should legal societies and professional bodies lobby HMCTS for clearer justification of this price gap, or advocate for a fairer, single-tier fee for all digital access?

What does your firm make of this two-tier system? Is this a necessary evil to support the charity sector, or an unfair burden on private client administration?