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Free template · Scotland

The family handover kit template, Scottish edition

Most free family handover templates are written for England and Wales. They print England's registration deadline, its probate forms and its probate fee, and none of those applies in Scotland.

This one is for a Scottish household. It has the same seven parts as every edition, and its deadlines page follows Scots law: a death registered within 8 days where possible, and confirmation from the sheriff court instead of probate.

Free, and no email needed. Print it, fill it in, keep it where your family would look.

§1

What the template holds

Scottish edition · PDF

Seven parts, and a deadlines page for Scotland

The template is five printed pages you fill in by hand.

The seven parts

Who to call first. Where things are kept. The legal position. The medical essentials. The financial picture. Digital access. Funeral wishes.

Each part is a short list of the details it needs, with a space beside each one for the date you recorded it.

The deadlines page

The last page is the one that changes in Scotland. It sets out the clocks a family meets after a death here: registration, the first weeks of telling banks and pensions, confirmation, and Inheritance Tax.

What does not change

The records themselves hold anywhere in the UK: who to call, where things are kept, what exists. Only the legal steps after a death follow the nation.

§2

What changes in Scotland

Seven things a Scottish family meets that a template written for England and Wales gets wrong. Each one is checked against the official page named under it.

Registering the death

Checked 2 November 2026 · mygov.scot

Within 8 days, where possible, at any registration office in Scotland.

The rule

A death in Scotland must be registered within 8 days of the death, where possible. In some cases it may not be possible, for example if the death has been referred to the procurator fiscal.

Where

You can register a death at any registration office in Scotland. It does not need to be the district where the person lived or died.

What you get at the desk

The registrar gives you a certificate of registration of death for the funeral director, and a shorter abbreviated copy of the entry. There is no charge for these documents.

Confirmation, not probate

Checked 2 November 2026 · Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service

The court document an executor needs is called confirmation. It comes from the sheriff court, and it starts with an inventory on form C1.

What it is

Confirmation is the legal document from the court that gives the executor authority to collect the person's money and property from whoever holds it. It is often a bank, building society or insurance company that asks for it.

The inventory

The executor lists everything the person owned at the time of death: money, houses, land, shares. For a small estate, that list is made on the C1 form.

Small estate or large

A small estate is one where the total value of the person's money and property is £36,000 or less. For a small estate, the sheriff clerk completes the inventory from the information you bring.

For a large estate, the court service recommends legal advice. Its staff are prohibited from assisting applicants for confirmation to large estates.

If there is no will

There is an extra legal step before the application can be lodged, and a bond of caution, a form of insurance, may be needed.

The sheriff court fee

Checked 2 November 2026 · Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service

No fee up to £50,000. £351 up to £250,000. £705 above that.

The bands

The fee for receiving and examining the inventory depends on the value of the estate. Where it does not exceed £50,000, there is no fee. Above that and up to £250,000, the fee is £351. Above £250,000, it is £705.

Two different lines

The fee line is not the small-estate line. An estate above £36,000 but not above £50,000 is a large estate that pays no inventory fee.

Certificates

A certificate of confirmation costs £10 when it is ordered with the inventory. Work out how many you need for the different banks and insurance companies before you lodge it.

When the fees change

Sheriff court fees are revised each April. These are the fees payable from 1 April 2026.

Telling the government

Checked 2 November 2026 · mygov.scot

Tell Us Once works in Scotland, and it also tells Social Security Scotland.

Who it tells

Tell Us Once will notify Social Security Scotland, HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Passport Office, the DVLA, the local council, Veterans UK and some public sector pension schemes.

Who it does not

It does not reach banks, employers or utility companies. You tell those yourself, which is why the template asks you to list them.

The reference number

If the registrar gives you a reference number rather than completing the service with you, use the service within 28 days of getting it.

A sudden or unexplained death

Checked 2 November 2026 · mygov.scot

In Scotland it is the procurator fiscal, not a coroner.

Registration can wait

If a death has been referred to the procurator fiscal, it may not be possible to register it within 8 days.

Tell Us Once still works

You can use Tell Us Once if the death was reported to the procurator fiscal and you have a final or interim death certificate.

Help with funeral costs

Checked 2 November 2026 · mygov.scot

In Scotland the help is called Funeral Support Payment.

What it is

Funeral Support Payment helps pay for funeral costs if you live in Scotland. The details and the claim are on mygov.scot.

§3

What stays the same in Scotland

Inheritance Tax is a UK tax, not a Scottish one. The same £325,000 threshold applies in Scotland as in England and Wales.

Banks are the same banks. The Death Notification Service lets you tell several banks and building societies at once, wherever in the UK the person lived.

The records are the same records. Who to call, where things are kept, what exists: none of that changes at the border.

§4

The blank, or the Kit prepared for Scotland

The template is yours to keep, free.

The £29 Kit lays the whole thing out to write into: who to call, where things are kept, what exists. Where a fact isn't to hand it doesn't leave a bare line: it names the body that already holds it.

Before you buy: choose Scotland at checkout and the Kit is prepared for it. The legal steps it names follow the nation you choose: confirmation through the sheriff court rather than probate, and a death registered within 8 days.

FAQ

The Scottish template, answered.

The seven parts are the same. The deadlines page is not. It gives the Scottish registration rule, confirmation on form C1 at the sheriff court instead of probate, and the sheriff court fee bands instead of the England and Wales probate fee.

Yes. It downloads straight from this page and no email is asked for. Print it and fill it in by hand, then keep it with your papers where your family would look.

No. It is a record of what exists and where it is kept, for the people who will need it. It is not a will and not legal advice. For confirmation itself, or anything about who inherits, speak to a Scottish solicitor.

The £29 Kit lays the whole thing out to write into, and where a fact isn't to hand it names the body that already holds it.

Choose Scotland at checkout and the Kit is prepared for it: confirmation rather than probate, and registration within 8 days.

Where this comes from

Every Scottish rule and fee on this page was read on the official page named here on 2 November 2026. Fees change each April, so check the page before you rely on a figure. Not legal advice.

Plate R · Related

If this was useful, you might also need —

● Open

Scotland — confirmation, not probate

Sheriff Court, Form C1, prior rights

Open page
● Open

The Family Handover Kit

The seven parts, laid out to write into

Open page
● Open

Confirmation in Scotland

The step-by-step, small estate or large

Open page
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