Applying for Probate in England and Wales

Probate is the legal process of dealing with someone's estate after they have died: their money, property and possessions. The document at the centre of it, a grant of probate, gives you the legal right to deal with that estate¹. It is not always needed, and each financial organisation has its own rules and policies on whether it is required².

In England and Wales you apply to the Probate Registry, either online or by post¹. The application fee is £526 if the estate is over £5,000, and there is no fee if the estate is worth less than £5,000³. Before you can apply, you must value the estate and report its value, and any Inheritance Tax due must be paid before the grant is issued⁴.

What a grant of probate is and what it lets you do

A grant of probate gives you the legal right to deal with someone's estate¹. More formally, it is a type of "grant of representation", which is a document proving the legal authority of a personal representative to administer a deceased person's estate⁶. Where the person left a will and you were appointed as executor, you need to apply for a grant of probate to deal with the estate².

The practical point of the grant is access. Banks, building societies and other asset holders will not usually release significant sums, or transfer or sell property, to someone who cannot prove they have the legal authority to act. You will need to obtain a grant of probate to access someone's accounts in these situations⁹. Once you hold the grant, you can collect the estate's assets, pay its debts and, eventually, distribute what remains to the people entitled to it.

The grant also protects the organisations handing over the money. A bank that releases funds to the wrong person could face a claim, so asking for an official court document is how it satisfies itself that it is dealing with the right individual. That is why the same document is sometimes called a "grant of probate", a "letter of administration" or, in Scotland, a "confirmation": the name depends on whether there was a will and which part of the UK you are in¹⁰.

If you are taking on this role, the page on being an executor explains the duties involved, and receiving an inheritance covers the position from the beneficiary's side.

When you need probate and when you do not

Probate is not always needed, and each financial institution has its own rules and policies on whether probate will be needed to access assets¹¹. There is no single legal threshold at which probate becomes compulsory for every estate: the practical trigger is usually whether the organisations holding the assets insist on seeing a grant before they will release them.

Circumstances in which applying for probate may not be necessary include: where there are no assets at all; where the estate is small, usually one valued at less than £5,000; and where all the assets were held as joint tenants and pass to the surviving owner by survivorship⁵. If the person who died only had savings, or shared money or property with others, you will likely not need to apply for probate¹².

The size of the estate is therefore only part of the picture. How it was owned matters just as much, and so does the policy of each institution. An estate of £20,000 held entirely in a joint account that passes to a surviving spouse may need no grant at all, while an estate of £10,000 spread across three banks, each of which wants to see a grant, may need one. Funds from someone's property, for example, may require a grant of probate before they can be released¹¹.

If the estate is worth above a certain amount, the executor or administrator will need this special permission, called probate, before the assets can be released¹³. The dedicated page on small estates goes into the detail of when a grant can be avoided, and valuing an estate explains how to work out what the estate is worth in the first place.

Estates under about £5,000: often no probate needed

For small estates, probate is often unnecessary. You may not need a grant of probate for a small estate, which is usually one valued at less than £5,000⁷. The same figure appears across independent guidance: applying for probate may not be necessary if the estate is small, usually less than £5,000⁵, and if the value of the estate is less than £5,000 you will likely not need to apply¹².

The £5,000 figure also marks the line for fees. If the value of the estate is less than £5,000 there is no fee for the application³. Above that, the application fee is £526, plus £2 for each extra official copy of the grant, and you need a copy for each asset holder⁷.

Two things are worth being clear about. First, the £5,000 figure is a rule of thumb about when probate is "usually" not needed, not a legal guarantee: individual banks and providers can still ask for a grant on a small estate, and some have their own, higher thresholds. You can often close an account without going through probate if the total balance is below a certain threshold, and these thresholds range from £5,000 to £50,000 depending on the provider¹⁴. Second, even a small estate still has to be valued and reported before you can apply, if a grant turns out to be needed⁴.

Jointly owned assets and property in the deceased's sole name

How an asset was owned determines what happens to it, and whether probate is needed to deal with it. Assets held as joint tenants pass automatically to the surviving owner by survivorship, outside the probate process⁵. Usually, you do not need a probate document to transfer a joint account into a sole name⁸.

Property is where this matters most. A home held as joint tenants passes to the survivor automatically. A home in the deceased's sole name, or owned as tenants in common so that the deceased's share forms part of their estate, will normally need a grant before it can be sold or transferred. Selling a jointly owned home also requires the joint owner's permission¹⁵.

There are two cautions for joint owners. First, joint ownership does not always protect the home from the deceased's debts: if you jointly owned your home and there is not enough money elsewhere in the estate to pay off the deceased person's debts, the home may have to be sold¹³. Second, creditors have a window to challenge: creditors can apply for an Insolvency Administration Order within five years of the death¹³.

Joint accounts also have a credit-file dimension. When a joint account is closed, you can write to the credit reference agencies to request a disassociation from the other account holder, so their later credit history is not linked to yours¹⁶. The page on untangling joint finances covers this in the context of separation, but the same principle applies after a death.

Probate with a will, and when there is no will

The document you are granted depends on whether the person left a will. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland there are two kinds of grant of representation: a grant of probate, where the deceased has left a will, and a grant of letters of administration, where the deceased has not left a will¹⁷. For an executor, it is called a grant of probate⁶.

If there is no will, there is no named executor, so an administrator will be appointed instead¹². The administrator does the same job as an executor, collecting the estate, paying debts and distributing what remains, but the people who inherit are determined by the intestacy rules rather than by the deceased's wishes. The page on dying without a will explains who inherits under those rules.

The application process differs slightly between the two situations. If there is a will, you complete form PA1P for a postal application; if there is not a will, you complete form PA1A¹. You can apply for letters of administration online or by post using form PA1A, with restrictions on who can apply online³.

Whether there is a will also affects who can apply. Where a valid will exists, the executors named in it have the first right to act. Where there is none, the court will normally appoint someone with an interest in the estate, in many cases a surviving spouse or civil partner¹⁸. More than half of UK adults do not have a will, according to research published in 2025, so the letters of administration route is a common one¹⁰. The pages on making a will and applying for letters of administration cover both sides of this.

Each bank and provider sets its own probate rules

Because there is no single legal threshold, the practical answer to "do I need probate?" often comes down to the policies of the organisations holding the money. Each financial institution has its own rules on whether probate will be needed to access assets, so you can check with any of them, for example banks or mortgage companies¹¹. Probate is the legal process of dealing with someone's estate after they have died, and it is not always needed¹⁹.

The thresholds vary widely. You can often close an account without going through probate if the total balance is below a certain threshold, and these range from £5,000 to £50,000 across providers¹⁴. This means an estate can sit awkwardly across the line: one bank may release a balance on sight of a death certificate, while another insists on a grant for a smaller amount. The only way to know is to ask each holder what they require.

A practical first step is to notify all the banks at once. The Death Notification Service lets you inform participating banks and building societies of a death with a single contact, rather than writing to each one separately⁹. The page on the Death Notification Service explains how it works. Remember, though, that notification is not the same as access: you will still need a grant of probate to access someone's accounts where the balance is above the provider's threshold⁹.

How to apply to the Probate Registry

In England and Wales, the grant is issued by the Probate Registry, and you can apply either by post or online¹. Applications are made through GOV.UK⁵. The steps below set out the process in order.

1. Value the estate and report it. You must do this before applying for probate, if you need it. You cannot apply for probate until you have reported the estate's value⁴.
2. Pay any Inheritance Tax. Inheritance Tax will need to be paid before probate can be granted⁵. Where the estate's money is tied up until the grant is issued, there is a procedure to apply for a grant on credit for Inheritance Tax²⁰.
3. Gather the documents. Documents you will need include the death certificate, birth certificate, and marriage or civil partnership certificate¹⁰. The page on death certificate copies explains how many to order.
4. Choose online or post. Online applications go through GOV.UK⁵. For a postal application, use form PA1P if there is a will and form PA1A if there is not¹.
5. Pay the fee. There is no fee if the estate is under £5,000; above that the fee is £526, plus £2 for each extra official copy of the grant, and you need a copy for each asset holder³. The page on probate fees covers the costs in detail.
6. Receive the grant and administer the estate. Once issued, the grant lets you collect the assets, pay the debts and distribute the estate.

If administering an estate yourself feels like too much, a professional can do it for a fee: paying a professional to deal with an estate sets out the options.

How long probate takes: often months, up to a year

The grant itself can take many months to be issued⁸. That is the wait between submitting the application and holding the document, and it is only one part of the overall timeline, because valuing the estate and reporting it must come before the application, and Inheritance Tax must be paid before the grant is issued⁴.

After the grant arrives, there may be a further deliberate pause. You may want to wait 10 months after probate is granted before distributing the estate, in case any claims are made against it¹. Claims against an estate are one reason executors hold back money rather than paying everything out at once.

In practice, the full process from death to distribution can therefore run to a year or more: several months to value the estate and obtain the grant, then the period of collecting assets and paying debts, then the waiting period before final distribution. The page on probate timescales covers the stages and what can slow them down. If the estate includes a home that needs to be sold, buying a home explains the conveyancing side, which adds its own time.

Scotland and Northern Ireland: confirmation and other differences

How much you pay and what forms you fill in depend on whether you live in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland¹⁰. This page covers England and Wales; the other two nations have their own processes.

In Scotland, the equivalent document is called confirmation²⁰. An application for confirmation is made to the sheriff court¹⁸. Scotland also has its own small estate rules: a Bond of Caution is not necessary if the total value of the estate is below £36,000, which is known as a small estate¹². The pages on confirmation in Scotland, small estate confirmation and wills in Scotland cover the Scottish process in full.

In Northern Ireland, probate applications have their own requirements and fees. If the estate is worth more than £10,000, it costs £326, plus an additional £81 personal applicant fee if you apply without a solicitor³. You must give the details of the assets you need a Grant of Representation for, and give the extra information for inheritance tax using the Estate Summary Form (NIPF7); after the probate application is filled in, the details on the NIPF7 are sent to HMRC²¹. See probate and estates in Northern Ireland for the full process.

The names of the documents also differ. The grant is known variously as a grant of representation, a grant of probate, or confirmation in Scotland¹⁰. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the two kinds are a grant of probate, where there is a will, and a grant of letters of administration, where there is not¹⁷.

Where to get free help

Administering an estate is unpaid work that can take months, and help is available at no cost. Several charities publish step-by-step guidance on dealing with an estate after a death, including Age UK, Independent Age and Citizens Advice². For the emotional side, free bereavement support and helplines lists where to find it.

For debts in the estate, National Debtline publishes guidance on what happens to debts after a death in England and Wales, including the rule that debts are normally paid before beneficiaries inherit anything⁵. The page on debts after death covers the same ground, and paying Inheritance Tax deals with the tax side.

If something goes wrong with a financial service during the process, for example a bank refusing to release funds or a pension provider mishandling a death benefit, the Financial Ombudsman Service can consider complaints from personal representatives acting for a deceased person's estate, and from consumers, including executors and administrators²². Complaints about pension decisions go to the Pensions Ombudsman, which also accepts complaints made on behalf of a deceased person's estate⁶. The page on what to do when someone dies gathers the whole task list in one place, and tax after a death covers the estate's own tax affairs.