What each valuation costs, asset by asset
There is no single price for "a probate valuation", because an estate is not one asset. Executors value each thing separately, and the cost per line ranges from nothing to four figures:
| Asset | Free route | Paid route |
|---|---|---|
| House or flat | Estate agent appraisal, usually free | RICS Red Book valuation, commonly £200 to £600 for a standard home |
| Household contents | Your own honest secondhand estimate | Professional chattels valuation, typically £150 to £400 |
| Quoted shares | Published prices on the date of death | Registrar or broker date of death schedule, often £20 to £50 |
| Private company shares | No realistic free route | Accountant or specialist valuer, commonly four figures |
| Bank and building society accounts | Free on request with the death certificate | Not applicable |
So a plain estate of a house, a few accounts and ordinary contents can be valued for nothing, while an estate holding a business interest or a serious collection can spend well over £1,000 before anyone applies for the grant. These ranges are what the market charges, not an official scale, so get two or three quotes locally. Our probate cost calculator sets them alongside the other costs of administration, including the £526 application fee. This article is general information about costs, not legal or financial advice.
Whether a formal property valuation is needed at all is a separate question, covered in our companion guide on whether you need a professional RICS valuation for probate. This page is about what the options cost and which one is worth paying for.
The £1,500 line GOV.UK draws
Most people assume the house is where professional valuation money goes. GOV.UK's guidance on valuing an estate where inheritance tax is due is more specific than that, and it is worth reading the actual wording: "You can get any property or land valued by an estate agent or chartered surveyor. You can also get a professional valuation for anything worth over £1,500. You can estimate the value of cheaper assets, such as electrical items and ordinary household goods."
That £1,500 figure is the practical trigger for spending money on chattels. A house full of ordinary furniture and electricals does not need a valuer. A single ring, painting or watch that might clear £1,500 on the open market does, and form IHT407 asks for individual items of jewellery at that level to be listed separately. A local auctioneer will usually value contents for something in the £150 to £400 range, and often for less if they expect the sale instruction to follow.
Guidance at IHTM21041 confirms household goods are valued at "the price which the property might reasonably be expected to fetch if sold in the open market at that time", and that valuations on another basis may not satisfy that test. Insurance replacement value is the usual culprit, so an existing insurance schedule is not a free shortcut: it is a higher number on the wrong basis. The same manual notes that sales after the death, particularly at auction, are the best evidence of open market value.
What the fee actually buys
The free appraisal and the paid report are not two prices for one product. One is an opinion about a likely marketing price, from someone hoping to win the sale. The other is a written opinion of open market value at the date of death, and HMRC's guidance at IHTM36275 calls it "entirely appropriate" for personal representatives to obtain one, provided the valuer is instructed on the open market basis in section 160 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984. The arithmetic can favour paying even where no inheritance tax arises.
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Worked example: the £320 that saved £4,080
Adaeze and Fintan are co-executors for a friend, Halina, who dies leaving a maisonette in Leeds, modest savings and a residue passing to her nephew Tomas. The estate is well under the nil-rate band, so no inheritance tax arises. Two agents appraise the maisonette at around £245,000 and stopping there would cost nothing. Instead the executors pay £320 for a Red Book valuation. The surveyor notes a converted loft room and two comparable sales on the same road, and returns £262,000 at the date of death. Tomas inherits and sells eighteen months later for £275,000.
| Free appraisal figure | Red Book figure | |
|---|---|---|
| Probate value (CGT base cost) | £245,000 | £262,000 |
| Sale proceeds | £275,000 | £275,000 |
| Gain | £30,000 | £13,000 |
| Less annual exempt amount | £3,000 | £3,000 |
| Taxable gain | £27,000 | £10,000 |
| CGT at 24% (higher rate) | £6,480 | £2,400 |
The £320 fee moves Tomas's tax bill by £4,080, on an estate where inheritance tax was never a factor. Assets are treated as acquired at market value on the date of death under HMRC's Capital Gains Manual at CG30730, so the probate figure becomes the beneficiary's acquisition cost, and every pound left off it is a pound added to the taxable gain later. Our guide to capital gains tax on inherited property works through the rates and the 60 day reporting deadline.
The low figure is not even safe. Because no inheritance tax was paid, the value was never formally agreed with HMRC, so it can be revisited when the sale is reported. A cheap number buys a worse base cost and no certainty.
Shares: the line where the price varies most
Quoted shareholdings are cheap to value: the prices are published, and registrars and brokers commonly charge £20 to £50 for a formal date of death schedule, worth having where several holdings need reconciling.
Shares in a private company are a different order of cost. There is no market price, the figure turns on earnings, assets and the size of the holding, and HMRC has a specialist Shares and Assets Valuation team that scrutinises unquoted holdings and goodwill. Executors normally need the company's accountant or an independent valuer, and fees run into four figures. Where business relief is claimed, the valuation and the relief position have to be considered together, so this line rarely stays a do it yourself job.
Who pays, and one thing the fee does not do
Valuation fees are an administration expense, so they come from estate funds and an executor who paid upfront is reimbursed once accounts are released. But IHTM21041 also makes clear that costs incurred after the death, valuation fees and auction commission included, cannot be deducted from the gross value of the estate. The estate carries the cost; the tax bill does not shrink because of it.
For the wider picture, how much probate costs covers court fees, notices and professional charges, valuing personal possessions for probate goes deeper on contents, and the probate hub maps the process. If the estate holds property near the tax thresholds, a business interest, or anything a family member might later query, get someone to look at the asset list before figures are committed. A probate specialist can say which lines genuinely need paying for and which you can evidence yourself, and that is a cheaper conversation than correcting a valuation after the fact.