What Is Probate and Do I Need It?

Probate is the legal right to deal with someone's property, money and possessions — their "estate" — when they die. In England and Wales, that right is confirmed by a court-issued document: a Grant of Probate when the person left a will, or Letters of Administration when they did not. Both are types of "grant of representation", issued by the Probate Registry, part of HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Banks, building societies, share registrars and HM Land Registry will often ask to see this document before they release money or transfer anything that was in the deceased person's sole name. Whether you need one depends on what the person owned, how they owned it, and what each organisation requires — there is no single threshold that switches probate on. This guide explains what the grant is, why organisations ask for it, who can apply, and what the process involves; the asset-by-asset decision is covered in our separate guide, Do I Need Probate?

This guide covers England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own systems — see Scotland and Northern Ireland below.

What probate actually is

When someone dies, everything they owned becomes their estate: the home and any other property, bank and savings accounts, investments, personal possessions, and anything owed to them. Whoever deals with the estate — called an executor if named in a will, or an administrator if there is no will — needs legal authority to collect it in, pay the person's debts and taxes, and pass on what remains to the people entitled to it. Executors and administrators are collectively called personal representatives and are legally responsible for administering the estate correctly.

The grant is the proof of that authority. It confirms to any bank, registry or buyer that the person presenting it is entitled to deal with the estate. Without it, most organisations will not release or transfer assets held in the deceased person's sole name, because they cannot know who has the right to instruct them — and if they release money to the wrong person, they may be liable for the mistake.

Each organisation decides for itself whether it needs to see a grant. Where an organisation requires formal proof of authority, the grant provides it. This commonly includes selling or transferring a house that was in the sole name of the person who died and dealing with sole-name accounts, shares or investments where the holder requires a grant.

The grant is not a tax clearance or a sign that the estate is finished. It is one step in a longer job: the personal representative still has to value the estate, report it to HMRC where required, pay the debts and any Inheritance Tax due, and only then distribute what remains.

Do you need probate?

The honest answer is that it depends on what the person owned and how they owned it. GOV.UK's own starting point is to contact the financial organisations the person used and ask whether they will need probate before releasing the assets — every organisation has its own rules.

Some situations come up often:

• Property in the sole name of the person who died. A grant is normally required before the property can be sold or transferred. HM Land Registry needs the grant to register the transfer to a buyer or a beneficiary.
• Property owned with someone else. If it was owned as joint tenants, the surviving owner's position continues by survivorship: the register can be updated using form DJP and an official copy of the death certificate, and no grant is needed for that step. If it was owned as tenants in common, the deceased person's share forms part of their estate and usually needs a grant before it can be sold or passed on.
• Joint bank accounts and money owned with others. These normally pass to the surviving owner or owners automatically — unless the owners had agreed otherwise, which is why the account terms matter.
• Sole-name bank and savings accounts. Each provider sets its own limit for releasing balances without a grant, and changes it from time to time. Ask the provider's bereavement team for its current position and get the answer in writing.
• National Savings & Investments, including Premium Bonds. NS&I says it may ask for a grant when the customer's total NS&I savings are £5,000 or over, and it reserves the right to ask for one at any value.
• Shares and investments. Registrars and platforms commonly require a grant to sell or transfer sole-name holdings, though some run their own small-holding processes.
• Assets that can pass outside the estate. A life policy written in trust usually pays out without a grant; if the policy was not written in trust, the proceeds may form part of the estate instead. Most pension death benefits are paid at the provider's or trustees' discretion — an expression of wishes guides them but is not binding, and where there is no nomination the pot can fall into the estate. Check the policy or scheme documents rather than assuming.

For example — an illustrative case, not a real one — someone dies leaving a jointly owned home, a joint bank account and £3,000 in a sole-name savings account. The home and the account pass to the survivor, and the bank may release the £3,000 under its own small-balance process, so a grant may never be needed. Add one fact — a flat in the deceased person's sole name — and a grant becomes very likely, because the sale cannot complete without it.

Before you start an application, ask each organisation first. Finding out before you apply can save an unnecessary application — and the fee.

For the asset-by-asset decision, including joint ownership, provider rules and property, read Do I Need Probate? It works through the checks in the order that matters.

Who can apply

Who can apply depends on whether there is a valid will.

If there is a will, the executors named in it are first entitled to apply, and their grant is called a Grant of Probate. Where several are named, they can apply together, or one can apply while the others hold "power reserved", allowing them to step in later (a later application of that kind currently costs £22, payable even if the estate is £5,000 or less). If a named executor has died or cannot act, the Rules allow people with a residual interest in the estate to apply instead — in order: someone entitled to the residue, then other residuary beneficiaries, and in due course other legatees or creditors.

If there is no will, the estate passes under the intestacy rules and the person entitled to act applies for Letters of Administration. The order of priority is set by the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987: the surviving spouse or civil partner first, then children (including the children of a child who has already died), then parents, then brothers and sisters, and beyond them more distant relatives. An unmarried partner has no place in that order, however long the relationship lasted — one of the reasons the intestacy rules are worth understanding before assuming how an estate will pass.

You must be 18 or over to apply for a grant in your own name. There is no requirement to use a solicitor: you can apply yourself, online or by post, and for many estates that is entirely reasonable. Professional help is worth considering where the estate is large, includes trusts or a business, spans more than one country, or where the people entitled disagree. GOV.UK signposts MoneyHelper's guidance on using a probate practitioner.

Applying: what it involves and what it costs

The full, step-by-step walkthrough is in How to Apply for Probate. In outline:

The application fee is £526 if the estate is worth more than £5,000, and nothing if it is worth £5,000 or less. Extra official copies of the grant cost £2 each when you order them with your application, and £16 each afterwards. Ask the organisations you need to deal with whether they require a copy before deciding how many to order. If you have a low income or receive certain benefits, you may qualify for help with the fee by applying online or using form EX160 before you apply; if you apply online you pay the fee up front and are refunded if the help application succeeds.

After the grant

Once the grant is issued, you send sealed copies to each organisation holding assets, collect the estate in, and open the estate's money trail — GOV.UK suggests an "executorship account" where more than one personal representative is acting, so there is somewhere clear to hold estate money.

Before anyone receives their inheritance, the debts come first: outstanding bills, Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax due on estate income and disposals, and any Inheritance Tax. You report the estate's value, income and tax position to HMRC, keep careful records of everything you collect and pay, and only then distribute what remains under the will or the intestacy rules.

What happens after the grant — collecting assets, paying debts in the right order, estate accounts and closing the estate — is covered in Post-Grant Estate Administration.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland does not use the probate system described above. The equivalent document is confirmation, issued by the sheriff court, and it gives the executor authority to collect and administer the estate. The application includes an inventory of everything the deceased person owned, and confirmation is possible only if the inventory includes at least one item of money or other property in Scotland. Scotland distinguishes small estates (£36,000 or less in total, where the sheriff clerk can help you prepare the inventory) from large estates, where the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service recommends legal advice. In a large estate where there is no will, an executor must be appointed by the court through the dative petition procedure.

Scottish succession rules also differ from England and Wales in a way that catches people out. On intestacy, a surviving spouse or civil partner has prior rights in the estate. Separately, a surviving spouse or civil partner and children have legal rights to a share of the moveable estate — and legal rights can be claimed even where the person left a valid will. A person entitled to both a gift under a will and legal rights must choose between them; they cannot take both. Our Scottish Probate guide covers this in detail.

Northern Ireland has its own Probate Office, part of the High Court there, with offices in Belfast and Londonderry. The process is broadly similar to England and Wales — a Grant of Probate where there is a will, Letters of Administration where there is not, and you must be 18 or over to apply — but the forms, fees and some procedural rules differ.

Where the person who died owned assets in more than one UK jurisdiction — property in Scotland and a bank account in England, for example — you may need a grant in each jurisdiction separately. For assets in Northern Ireland, a grant issued outside Northern Ireland may be resealed by the Probate Office there; nidirect explains the position, including resealing.

Common questions

Sources

Checked 12 September 2026:

• GOV.UK — Applying for probate, including Apply for probate and Fees
• GOV.UK — What to do after someone dies (registering the death)
• GOV.UK — How to value an estate for Inheritance Tax
• GOV.UK — Dealing with the estate
• GOV.UK — Update property records when someone dies and Joint property ownership
• GOV.UK — Pay your Inheritance Tax bill
• Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, rules 20 and 22 (who may take a grant)
• Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, s.4 and s.20 (claim window and personal-representative protection)
• NS&I — What to do if an NS&I customer has died
• Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service — Dealing with a deceased's estate in Scotland
• gov.scot — What to do after a death in Scotland (prior rights on intestacy)
• gov.scot — What to do after a death in Scotland (legal rights; where the person left a will)
• nidirect — Probate (Northern Ireland)
• MoneyHelper — What happens to my pension when I die?