What probate actually means
Probate is the legal right to deal with someone's estate — their money, property and possessions — after they die. Until a bank, the Land Registry or an investment platform sees proof of that right, they generally won't hand anything over.
The paperwork that proves it is called a grant of representation, and it comes in two main forms:
| Situation | Who applies | What you get | Your title |
|---|---|---|---|
| There is a valid will | The executor(s) named in the will | Grant of Probate | Executor |
| There is no will | The closest relative, in a fixed legal order | Letters of Administration | Administrator |
People use "probate" as shorthand for both, and we'll do the same here. Whichever grant you get, the job is the same: gather the assets, pay the debts and taxes, and pass on what's left to the right people.
If there's no will, the estate is distributed under the intestacy rules. In England and Wales, a surviving spouse or civil partner receives the first £322,000 plus personal possessions plus half of anything above that, with children sharing the other half. One fact catches many families out: unmarried partners inherit nothing under intestacy, however long the relationship lasted.
Do I need probate? Check before you apply
Not every estate needs a grant — and skipping an unnecessary application saves you the fee and weeks of waiting. Probate is usually not needed when:
- Property was owned as joint tenants. The deceased's share passes automatically to the surviving owner. Nothing to apply for.
- Bank accounts were held jointly. The survivor keeps the account; the bank just needs a death certificate.
- The estate is savings only and the balances are small enough for the banks to release without a grant.
- Sole accounts fall under the bank's own limit. There is no statutory threshold — every institution sets its own, and gov.uk's advice is simple: check with each one first.
Here's where the major UK banks stood in 2026:
| Institution | Releases without a grant up to |
|---|---|
| Barclays | £50,000 |
| HSBC | £50,000 |
| Lloyds / Halifax / Bank of Scotland | £50,000 |
| Santander | £50,000 |
| Nationwide | £50,000 |
| NatWest Group | Decided case by case |
To release the money, banks typically ask for the death certificate, a signed declaration or indemnity form, and your ID — no grant, no £526 fee, no wait.
You almost certainly do need probate if the estate includes a house or flat in the deceased's sole name (or owned as tenants in common), or sole-name balances above the bank's limit. Shares, investment accounts and some pension or insurance payouts made to the estate usually need a grant too — again, ask each provider rather than assuming.
A worked example: Margaret dies leaving a house owned as joint tenants with her husband, a joint current account, and £18,000 in a sole-name savings account with Nationwide. The house and joint account pass to her husband automatically, and £18,000 sits comfortably under Nationwide's £50,000 limit. No probate needed — the whole estate can be dealt with using the death certificate alone. If that savings balance had been £60,000, or the house had been in Margaret's sole name, a grant would be essential.
Unsure which side of the line your estate falls? Run it through our free probate checker — it takes about two minutes.
Before you apply: value the estate and sort inheritance tax
The probate application itself is the easy part. The real work happens first, in this order:
- Confirm probate is actually needed (see above).
- Check you're entitled to apply. With a will, that's the named executors. Without one, the intestacy order decides — spouse or civil partner first, then children, and so on.
- Value the estate. List every asset at its date-of-death value, every debt (mortgage, loans, utility bills, funeral costs), and any gifts the person made in the 7 years before they died. Write to each bank and ask for a date-of-death balance; get a property valuation. Be thorough here — the figures you produce feed directly into both the tax reporting and the probate application, and inconsistencies between the two are a classic reason applications get stopped.
- Report the estate for inheritance tax. How you do this depends on whether the estate is "excepted" — more on that below.
While you're gathering figures, use the government's Tell Us Once service to notify HMRC, DWP, DVLA and the Passport Office in one go rather than writing to each separately.
Excepted estates: the simpler route
For deaths after 1 January 2022, most estates qualify as excepted estates, which means no separate tax forms — you simply report the estate's value inside the probate application. An estate is usually excepted if one of these applies:
- Gross value under £325,000
- Gross value up to £650,000 and you're claiming the unused threshold of a spouse or civil partner who died first
- Everything passes to a UK spouse, civil partner or charity and the estate is worth less than £3 million
- The person lived permanently abroad and their UK assets are £150,000 or less
When you need the full IHT400
Some estates must send a full IHT400 account to HMRC first — even if no tax is actually due. That includes estates where:
- Gifts in the last 7 years exceed £250,000
- The person gave something away but kept using it (a "gift with reservation")
- The estate is worth more than £3 million
- Foreign assets exceed £100,000
- Trust assets exceed £250,000, or there are multiple trusts
If you're in IHT400 territory, submit it to HMRC and wait 20 working days before applying for probate. Apply too soon and your application gets stopped — one of the most common avoidable delays.
Will the estate actually pay inheritance tax?
Most don't. The key numbers:
| Allowance | Amount |
|---|---|
| Nil-rate band (everyone) | £325,000 (frozen) |
| Residence nil-rate band (home left to children or grandchildren) | Up to £175,000 |
| Combined, per person | Up to £500,000 |
| Married couples / civil partners (allowances transfer) | Up to £1 million |
Above the allowances, the rate is 40% — reduced to 36% if 10% or more of the net estate goes to charity. Anything left to a spouse, civil partner or charity is exempt entirely.
Deadlines matter here: inheritance tax is due by the end of the sixth month after the month of death, with interest charged after that. Tax on property can be paid in instalments over 10 years, and the IHT400 itself must be filed within 12 months.
Applying for probate: the application itself
Once the valuation and tax reporting are done, the application is refreshingly straightforward.
Most estates with a will can apply online through gov.uk (professionals use MyHMCTS). Paper routes still exist: form PA1P where there's a will, PA1A where there isn't.
You'll need:
- The original will (not a copy) — you send it in after applying online
- The death certificate
- Your estate valuation figures, or your IHT reference if you filed an IHT400
The online form itself asks about the person who died, the will, the executors who are applying (others can step back or reserve their right to act later), and the estate values you prepared earlier. As part of the application you make a statement of truth confirming everything is accurate — there's no need to swear an oath in person any more.
What it costs in 2026
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Application fee (estate over £5,000) | £526 (rose from £300 on 13 July 2026) |
| Application fee (estate £5,000 or less) | Free |
| Extra sealed copies of the grant — ordered with the application | £2.05 each |
| Extra copies ordered later | £16 each |
Order extra copies upfront. Each bank, insurer and registry wants to see a sealed copy, and sending them out in parallel rather than one at a time can shave weeks off the estate. At £2.05 versus £16 later, over-ordering is cheap insurance. On a low income? The Help with Fees scheme (form EX160) can reduce or waive the £526. There's a full breakdown in probate fees explained.
How long it takes
Digital applications currently take around 4–6 weeks from submission to grant. Paper applications average around 16 weeks, and applications that get "stopped" (missing documents, IHT mismatches, the 20-day wait ignored) add roughly 13.7 weeks on top.
The grant, though, is a milestone — not the finish line. Full estate administration typically takes 6–12 months from death to final distribution. See how long probate takes for a stage-by-stage timeline.
After the grant: administering the estate
With sealed grant copies in hand, the executor's job moves into delivery mode:
- Collect in the assets. Send a sealed copy to each institution; banks release funds against it. Sell or transfer property.
- Pay the debts — mortgage, loans, bills, funeral costs — before anyone inherits a penny.
- Consider statutory advertisements. Trustee Act notices in The Gazette and a local paper are optional, but they protect you personally from unknown creditors appearing later.
- Pay the legacies — the specific gifts and cash sums named in the will.
- Prepare estate accounts. A clear record of everything in and out, shown to the residuary beneficiaries.
- Distribute the residue — whatever remains, split as the will (or intestacy rules) directs.
Executors traditionally get an "executor's year" — twelve months from death before beneficiaries can demand distribution. Most straightforward estates finish well inside that; complex ones (property sales, HMRC queries, disputes) can run longer without anyone being at fault.
Two habits make this stage far less stressful. First, keep every receipt and letter — estate accounts are much easier to assemble from a running file than from memory ten months later. Second, communicate with beneficiaries early and often. Most estate friction isn't caused by delay itself, but by silence while the delay is happening.
Scotland and Northern Ireland: different names, different rules
Probate rules above apply to England and Wales. Elsewhere in the UK:
Scotland calls the process Confirmation, granted by the sheriff court rather than a probate registry. For small estates of £36,000 or less, the sheriff clerk will help you complete the paperwork, there's no fee, and no bond of caution is needed where the clerk assists. Larger estates without a will need a Bond of Caution (an insurance policy protecting beneficiaries) before confirmation is granted. Note too that deaths in Scotland must be registered within 8 days, versus 5 in England and Wales.
Northern Ireland has its own Probate Office, with sittings in Belfast and Londonderry. The fee is £261 for estates over £10,000, plus a £65 personal application fee if you apply without a solicitor. NI has no Tell Us Once service, so you'll need to notify each government department individually.
Five mistakes that cost families time and money
- Applying before the IHT 20-day wait is up. If you filed an IHT400, HM Courts and Tribunals Service needs HMRC's figures before it can process your application. Jumping the gun gets the application stopped — adding months, not days.
- Not ordering enough grant copies. At £2.05 with the application versus £16 afterwards, running out mid-administration is a slow, expensive way to learn the lesson.
- Paying £526 you didn't need to pay. If the only sole-name assets are bank balances under £50,000, ask each bank about its threshold before applying. Many estates need no grant at all.
- Distributing too early. Certain people (dependants, cohabiting partners left out of the will) can claim against the estate under the Inheritance Act for 6 months after the grant. Distribute inside that window and, if a claim succeeds, the executor can be personally liable. Cautious executors wait.
- Forgetting the car insurance. Motor insurance is generally invalid from the date of death — the policyholder no longer exists. Nobody should drive the car until cover is arranged in a living person's name.
Where EstateWrap fits in
Probate is rarely difficult — it's just long, unfamiliar and full of small deadlines that don't announce themselves. EstateWrap turns everything above into a guided, personalised checklist: what applies to your estate, what doesn't, and what order to do it in. Start with the free probate checker to find out in two minutes whether you need a grant at all.