For press, partners & investors

A 189-year market, rebuilt for 2026.

Practical Probate is an AI-native, SRA-regulated law firm rebuilding probate from the ground up — secured on blockchain, fixed-fee, and ready for the biggest reform of estate law in nearly two centuries. We're talking to selected partners, journalists and investors now.

Start a conversation → View the fact sheet

The market

A £1.5 billion market
just going digital.

UK probate is large, fragmented and overdue for change. The Wills Act has governed every will in England & Wales since 1837. In May 2025 the Law Commission recommended replacing it with digital wills, electronic signatures and remote witnessing. Legacy firms will retrofit for years. We are already built for it.

£1.5B

UK probate total addressable market.

TAM

250k+

Estates passing through probate each year.

Annual volume

6–12

Months an average estate waits to settle.

Cycle time

189

Years since the Wills Act 1837. One reform coming.

Legal reform

Sources: HMRC probate data · MoJ statistics · Law Commission consultation (May 2025) · STEP industry benchmarks.

Who we'd like to hear from

Selected conversations. Open door.

We're a small, regulated team building for a specific moment — and we'd rather talk to a few of the right people than a great many of the wrong ones.

Press & media

Writing on legal tech, AI in regulated industries, the future of UK probate, or the Wills Act reform? We'll go on the record.

Founder interviews, on or off the record
Commentary on the Law Commission's reform proposals
Photography & fact sheet available on request

Press enquiry →

II.

Partners

Law firms, financial institutions, will-writers, IFAs, brokers and estate professionals — if your customers touch probate, there is likely a way we can work together.

Referral & signposting arrangements
White-labelled fixed-fee probate
Integration discussions for ecosystem partners

Partnership enquiry →

III.

Investors

We're currently in conversation with a small number of strategic and financial investors. Pre-revenue, with a signed launch pipeline, SRA authorisation in hand, and a defensible technology stack.

Detailed deck & financial model under NDA
Founder-led, capital-efficient by design
Clear path to profitability and exit

Investor enquiry →

The founder

"I've built this before."

Twenty-five years in legal services. No outside funding — until now.

James Emsley is the founder of Practical Probate. He has spent the last quarter-century building and operating a UK legal services business, growing from a standing start into a multi-million-pound practice without taking external capital along the way.

Practical Probate is the next chapter — regulated, fixed-fee, and built around modern technology from day one. The licence is in hand. The team is in place. The market is moving.

Available for press interviews, partner meetings and selected investor conversations.

James Emsley

Founder & Director

View on LinkedIn

Experience

25 years

Sector

UK legal services

Status

Founder & HOFA

Track record

Bootstrapped to scale

Fact sheet

The shape of the firm.

A short, on-the-record summary suitable for publication.

Name

Practical Probate Ltd

Regulator

Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)

Structure

Alternative Business Structure (ABS)

SRA number

8012845

Authorised

2 February 2026

Jurisdiction

England & Wales

Practice areas

Probate · Conveyancing · Trusts

Model

Fixed-fee · AI-native · Blockchain-secured

Sector context

£1.5B UK probate TAM · 250,000+ estates per year · Wills Act reform under consultation

Founder

James Emsley — 25 years in UK legal services

Stage

Pre-launch · selectively raising

Press contact

info@practical-probate.com