The cost of ordering copies of probate records will increase from £1.50 to £16 from Monday 17 November.
The government laid out the changes online in Statutory Instrument 2025 No. 1126.
The civil Court of Probate for England and Wales was established in 1858. Probate records from that date to the present are available to download on the UK government’s Find a Will website.
They are an important record for allowing family history researchers to view their ancestor’s wills.
The cost of probate records was cut from £10 to £1.50 in 2019 and has remained at that low price since then.
Family historians are urged to download any records they may need before 17 November.
Sarah Williams, editor of Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, said: “As a family history magazine, we have always advised our readers to buy wills, but now that they are going up to £16, it will be a much harder decision to make. It is a huge disappointment that the government has increased the pricing by ten-fold. I would urge our readers to order any post-1858 wills that relate to their family before the price rise takes effect.”
