Probate · The Essentials

What is probate — and do you actually need it?

Q: What exactly is a grant of probate?

A grant of probate is the court document that proves the executor's legal authority to deal with the estate. It is issued when there is a valid will naming an executor; where there is no will, the equivalent is letters of administration. Both are collectively called a grant of representation and institutions treat them identically.

Q: Is probate always needed?

No. Solely owned property almost always requires a grant, but banks release balances below their own thresholds — typically £15,000 to £50,000 — without one. Jointly owned assets passing by survivorship and pensions or life policies written in trust skip probate entirely.

Q: Can I apply for probate without a solicitor?

Yes. Personal applications are made online through the MyHMCTS portal using form PA1P (with a will) or PA1A (no will). Straightforward estates are well within a careful lay executor's reach; consider professional help where the estate is insolvent, taxable, contested, or holds foreign assets.

Q: What happens if no one applies for probate?

The estate stays frozen — property cannot be sold, accounts above threshold stay locked. There is no legal deadline, but inheritance tax is due 6 months after the end of the month of death regardless, and if the named executor won't act a beneficiary can apply instead.

Probate is the legal authority to deal with someone's estate after they die — proved by a grant of probate. Until the grant is issued, banks stay locked, property cannot be sold, and shares cannot move.

But not every estate needs one — joint accounts, small balances and assets in trust pass without it. Knowing which side of the line you're on is the first decision every executor makes.

This page covers: what the grant actually is · probate vs letters of administration · when you need it — asset by asset · the application, fee and timeline · what happens after the grant.

§1

What probate actually is

Probate is a process, and the grant is the key that unlocks it. The process is: value everything the person owned, pay the inheritance tax and debts, and pass what remains to the people entitled to it. The grant is the sealed court document that proves to every institution — banks, the Land Registry, share registrars — that you are the person with the legal right to do this. Which document you get depends on one thing: whether there is a valid will.

Grant of probate

Issued when there is a valid will naming an executor. The executor applies with form PA1P, and the grant confirms their authority to carry out the will's instructions. The will decides who inherits; the grant just proves who administers.

Letters of administration

Issued when there is no will — or no executor able or willing to act. The closest relative applies with form PA1A, and the intestacy rules decide who inherits. To banks and registrars the document works identically to a grant of probate — both are "grants of representation".

§2

Do you need probate? Asset by asset

Probate is needed when an institution refuses to act without it — and each asset type has its own rule. There is no single legal threshold. Work down the list of what the person owned: the answer is usually obvious within minutes.

Asset type — is a grant required?

Property — sole nameGrant needed

Almost always requires a grantThe Land Registry will not transfer or allow the sale of solely owned property without a grant. This is the single most common reason probate is needed — if there's a house in the sole name of the person who died, plan on applying.

Property — joint namesUsually no

Joint tenants: passes automatically. Tenants in common: grant needed for the shareProperty held as joint tenants passes to the surviving owner by survivorship — a death certificate updates the register, no grant needed. Property held as tenants in common is different: the deceased's share passes under the will and does need a grant.

Bank accounts — sole nameThreshold

Depends on the bank's own limit — £50,000 at most major banks nowEach bank sets its own threshold below which it releases funds against a death certificate and indemnity form, no grant required. Above it, the account stays frozen until the grant arrives. Ask each bank's bereavement team for its written threshold — they differ widely.

Joint bank accountsNo grant

Pass automatically to the surviving holderJoint accounts pass by survivorship — the survivor keeps using the account and the bank simply removes the deceased's name on sight of the death certificate. The balance may still count towards the estate for inheritance tax, but no grant is needed to access it.

Shares & investmentsRegistrar

Registrars usually require a grant above small holdingsShare registrars and platforms generally require a grant to sell or transfer holdings of any real value, though small holdings can sometimes move under an indemnity. NS&I and Premium Bonds have their own threshold and process.

Pensions & life policies in trustNo grant

Paid directly to nominated beneficiaries — outside the estateDefined contribution pensions and life policies written in trust are paid at the trustees' discretion to nominated beneficiaries. They bypass probate and usually inheritance tax — one reason nomination forms matter so much while you're alive.

§3

Getting the grant: the application

The application itself is four steps — and the tax comes before the court. Most delays people blame on the probate registry are actually time spent on the step before it: valuing the estate and settling the inheritance tax position.

Step 1

Value the estate

Everything owned at death, at date-of-death value: property (formal valuation for anything near the tax threshold), accounts, shares, vehicles, possessions — minus debts. This figure decides whether inheritance tax is due and goes on the application.

Step 2

Settle the tax position

Estates over the £325,000 nil-rate band (or failing the excepted-estate tests) file IHT400 and pay at least the first instalment before applying. IHT is due 6 months after the end of the month of death. Simpler estates skip straight to the application.

Step 3

Apply online with PA1P

Apply through the MyHMCTS portal with form PA1P (PA1A if no will), the original will, the death certificate and a statement of truth. Court fee: £526, waived under £5,000 — plus £2 per sealed copy. Order 6–8 copies.

Step 4

Receive the grant

Grants usually issue within 12 weeks of submitting a complete application — clean online applications are often faster. "Stopped" applications (missing documents, will queries) take far longer, so get it right first time. The sealed copies arrive with the grant.

§4

After the grant: the executor's year

The grant is the middle of the job, not the end. With the sealed copies in hand, the executor collects every asset, pays every debt in the statutory order, and only then distributes. Most estates complete within 9–12 months of death — the traditional executor's year — and beneficiaries cannot force distribution sooner.

Collect the assets

Send a sealed copy of the grant to every institution — each needs its own, which is why you ordered 6–8 copies at £2 each with the application. Funds are paid into a dedicated executor's account, never a personal one.

Pay debts in the legal order

Funeral costs first, then administration expenses, secured debts, taxes, and unsecured creditors. An executor who pays beneficiaries before creditors is personally liable for the shortfall. Consider a Section 27 creditor notice in The Gazette before distributing.

Distribute and account

Pay legacies, transfer property, and split the residue exactly as the will (or intestacy rules) directs. Prepare estate accounts showing every receipt and payment — beneficiaries are entitled to see them, and they are your protection if anyone later questions a decision.

Close the estate

Final tax return for the administration period, HMRC clearance where IHT was paid, signed receipts from residuary beneficiaries — then the executor's role ends. Keep the papers for 12 years: claims against estates can surface years later.

Figure watch · checked weekly

The figures on this page change.

Court fees rise, thresholds move, deadlines shift.

This card watches the same way your Valoren records would — leave an email and we'll tell you when one changes, once, then stop.

Executor's First Hour · £179

Every step on this page, turned into your working checklist

The letter to send each bank, the estate valuation workpaper, the PA1P preparation sheet, the creditor notice template, and a timed plan from day one through month twelve — so nothing on this page catches you unprepared.

See what's included→

If this estate needs more than a guide

Where the boundary is reached, Valoren refers.

Many straightforward estates can be administered without professional representation — and that stays true. This section exists for the estates where the honest answer is 'professional advice is usually appropriate', and it is straightforward about which route is ours.

Signum · Valoren's own specialist desk

Have Signum carry it

Signum is part of Valoren — our own service, and we say so plainly. Where an estate crosses the line this page draws — inheritance tax to pay, a trust, foreign assets, a doubt over the will, an insolvent estate — Signum carries it from here: the return, the schedules, the correspondence, handled by in-house regulated specialists and coordinated through named regulated professionals. It starts with a free intake, and if we are not the right fit for your estate, we will tell you so and point you at the directories below.

valoren.uk/services →↗

Prefer an independent adviser?

The Law Society · Public directory

Find a Solicitor

The Law Society of England & Wales — regulated solicitors. Searchable by postcode and area of practice. Best fit for full-service estate administration where IHT400 submission, cross-border assets, or contested points are involved.

solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk →↗

STEP · Public directory

Find a Trust and Estate Practitioner

Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners — the professional body for trust and estate work in the UK. Members hold the TEP credential after rigorous examination. Best fit when trusts, cross-border estates, or complex succession structures are involved.

step.org →↗

CIOT · Public directory

Find a Chartered Tax Adviser

Chartered Institute of Taxation — the leading professional body for UK tax. Members hold the CTA credential after the most demanding tax qualification in the UK. Best fit when APR/BPR, business succession, lifetime gift planning, or HMRC dispute resolution are in play.

tax.org.uk →↗

Signum is Valoren's own desk — instructing it means instructing us, disclosed plainly. None of the three directories pays Valoren a referral fee; they are listed so the independent route is always one click away.

FAQ

Common questions

01What exactly is a grant of probate?›

A grant of probate is the court document that proves the executor's legal authority to deal with the estate — the sealed order banks, the Land Registry and share registrars accept as proof you are entitled to act.

Strictly, "grant of probate" is the version issued when there is a valid will naming an executor. When there is no will (or no willing executor), the equivalent document is letters of administration. Collectively both are called a grant of representation — and institutions treat them identically.

02Is probate always needed?›

No. Probate is needed when an institution or the Land Registry refuses to act without it. Solely owned property almost always requires a grant.

Bank accounts depend on each bank's own threshold — £50,000 at most major banks now (HSBC £25,000 where there is no will) — below which they release funds against a death certificate and indemnity form.

Jointly owned assets passing by survivorship, and pensions or life policies written in trust, skip probate entirely. Many small estates never need a grant at all.

03How much does probate cost?›

The HMCTS application fee is £526, waived for estates under £5,000, plus £2 per sealed copy ordered with the application. That is the whole court cost.

Everything beyond it is optional: a solicitor typically adds £2,000–£15,000+, often charged as a percentage of the estate. Many straightforward estates can be administered without professional representation, which avoids those fees entirely.

Where any of these apply, professional advice is usually appropriate: inheritance tax is payable, the will's validity is in doubt, there are trusts, business or agricultural assets, foreign assets or a foreign domicile, complex lifetime gifts, missing executors or beneficiaries, a beneficiary who lacks capacity, restricted charitable gifts, a claim against the estate, or the estate may be insolvent.

04How long does probate take?›

Grants usually issue within 12 weeks of submitting a complete application, and clean online applications are often faster.

But the grant is only the middle of the process: valuing the estate and settling inheritance tax comes before you can apply, and collecting assets, paying debts and distributing comes after. Most estates complete within 9–12 months — the traditional "executor's year".

05Can I apply for probate without a solicitor?›

Yes. Personal applications are made online through the MyHMCTS portal using form PA1P (with a will) or PA1A (no will). You need the original will, the death certificate and the estate valuation.

Straightforward estates — UK assets, no dispute, clear will — are well within a careful lay executor's reach. Consider professional help where the estate is insolvent, taxable, contested, or holds foreign assets — the situations where a mistake makes the executor personally liable.

06What happens if no one applies for probate?›

The estate stays frozen — property cannot be sold or transferred, accounts above threshold stay locked, and shares cannot be dealt with.

There is no legal deadline to apply, but delay has costs: property insurance lapses on empty homes, interest accrues on debts, and inheritance tax is due 6 months after the end of the month of death whether or not anyone has applied.

If the named executor won't act, they can renounce or be bypassed — and a beneficiary can apply instead.