Do I need probate? Check your situation
The question sounds like it should have a simple answer. It does, but only once you know how each asset was owned. This page gives you a steer in two minutes and then a specific answer for your situation.
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The short answer
- Probate is needed when an organisation will not release or transfer an asset without it. It is not triggered by the will, by the size of the estate, or by who inherits.
- You almost certainly need it if there was a house or land in the person's sole name, or held as tenants in common, or a sole-name bank balance above that bank's limit.
- You probably don't if everything was held jointly as joint tenants and passed to the survivor, or if every sole-name account sits below its holder's limit (most large banks: around £50,000; NS&I: £5,000).
- Pensions and life insurance rarely change the answer. Most are paid outside the estate on the death certificate.
- Nobody official decides for you. Each bank, registrar, insurer and the Land Registry applies its own rule. This page tells you what those rules are.
Around half of deaths in England and Wales lead to a grant of probate or letters of administration. The other half don't need one, and a good number of the applications that are made were never necessary: someone applied because it seemed like the thing to do, paid £526 and waited two months for a document no organisation had asked for. The checker below is designed to stop that, and to tell you quickly when a grant really is unavoidable.
The one rule that decides it
A grant of representation (a grant of probate if there is a will, letters of administration if there isn't) is a court document proving that a named person has authority to deal with the estate. Organisations ask for it when they would otherwise be taking a risk by handing over money or property.
So the question "do I need probate?" is really "will any organisation holding this person's assets refuse to act without one?" That turns on two things:
- How each asset was owned. Anything held jointly as joint tenants (the usual arrangement for couples' homes and joint accounts) passes automatically to the surviving owner. No grant is involved because the asset never forms part of the estate that needs administering. Anything in the person's sole name, or held as tenants in common, does form part of it.
- How much each sole-name holding is worth, and who holds it. Every bank, building society, registrar and insurer has a limit below which it will release funds on the death certificate and a signed form. Above the limit it wants the grant. The limits are set by each institution, not by law, and they apply per institution rather than to the estate as a whole.
Two things people expect to matter usually don't. Whether there is a will changes who applies and who inherits, not whether a grant is needed. And the total size of the estate matters only through the individual limits: a £200,000 estate spread thinly across joint assets may need nothing, while a £20,000 estate with a flat in a sole name needs a grant.
Check in two minutes
Answer five questions about what the person owned and how it was held. The result is a steer, not a ruling: the organisations holding the assets make the final call, and their limits are listed on the pages this points you to.
This is general information from published rules and institution limits as at the date on this page, not advice about your estate. If you'd rather a person looked at it, tell us about the estate or call 07587 923638.
When you will need a grant
- A house, flat or land in the sole name of the person who died. The Land Registry will not register a sale or transfer without a grant. You can put the property on the market, but you cannot exchange contracts. This is the single most common reason a grant is needed.
- Property held as tenants in common. The deceased's share does not pass to the co-owner. Dealing with it needs a grant, even when the co-owner is the person who will inherit it.
- A sole-name bank or building society balance above that institution's limit. Most large UK banks now sit around £50,000, but some smaller institutions are lower, and two accounts at the same bank are counted together.
- NS&I holdings over £5,000 in total. Premium Bonds and other NS&I products have a low, published limit.
- Shares or investments above the registrar's or platform's small-estates limit.
- Anywhere a claim has to be pursued. Money owed to the estate, a compensation claim, an insurance payout the insurer disputes: courts and defendants deal only with a personal representative.
When you probably won't
- Everything was held jointly as joint tenants and passes to a surviving spouse or partner. The home, the joint account, the joint savings. The survivor sends each organisation a death certificate and the asset is re-registered in their name. Keep the valuations: they may be needed later for inheritance tax when the survivor dies.
- Every sole-name account is below its holder's limit. The bank's bereavement team closes the account and pays the balance to whoever is entitled, on the death certificate, a closure form and sometimes sight of the will.
- The estate is genuinely small. There is no statutory "small estate" procedure in England and Wales, but an estate of a few thousand pounds in one bank account will be released without a grant. The court fee is nil for estates of £5,000 or less, which is a good sign that the court doesn't expect many applications at that level.
- The only assets were a pension, a life policy written in trust, and personal possessions. These pass outside the estate or without formality.
"Probably won't" still means asking. Ring each organisation's bereavement line with the account details and the approximate balance and ask, in those words, "will you need a grant of probate?" Write down who said what and when. It is a ten-minute job that can save £526 and two months of waiting.
If there is no will
Nothing above changes. The asset test is identical. What changes is the name of the document (letters of administration rather than a grant of probate), who can apply (the closest relative, in a fixed order of priority, rather than a named executor) and who inherits (the intestacy rules rather than the will).
The practical difference is that where there is no will, no one has any authority at all until the grant is issued. An executor named in a will has authority from the moment of death and can, for instance, instruct an estate agent straight away. An administrator cannot act until the court says so. If a grant is needed, apply early.
What to do with the answer
If a grant is needed, the sequence is: value every asset and debt at the date of death, work out the inheritance tax position (most estates owe nothing but the figures are still required), then apply online through the GOV.UK probate service or on paper using form PA1P (with a will) or PA1A (without). The fee is £526, or nothing if the estate is £5,000 or less. Digital applications are currently taking around five weeks; our live wait-time page tracks the HMCTS figures each month.
If it isn't, you still have an estate to administer. The debts still have to be paid before anyone inherits, the organisations still need telling, and if there is a surviving spouse the values of what passed to them will matter for their own estate one day. Our guide to what to do when someone dies covers the order of work, and who to tell lists every organisation with what each will ask for.
If it depends on one institution's limit, ask that institution before applying. If they say yes, the grant is needed for everything; if they say no, you may have avoided the whole process.
Find your situation
Each of these pages gives the direct answer for that situation in the first few lines, then the rule behind it, the exceptions and what to do next.
Who has died
- Do I need probate if my husband or wife dies?Often not if the home and accounts were joint; still needed for sole-name assets above the holder's limit.
- Do you need probate when a parent dies?Usually yes if there was a home in a sole name or savings above the bank's limit; the second death is the common case.
- Do you need probate if your partner dies?Same asset test, but an unmarried partner inherits nothing under intestacy and cannot apply.
The will, or the lack of one
- Do I need probate if there is a will?A will does not avoid probate and does not force it. Only the assets decide.
- Do I need probate if there is no will?Same asset test. The grant is called letters of administration and the closest relative applies.
- Do I need probate if I am the sole beneficiary?Changes nothing. Probate is about the assets, not who inherits.
- Do I need probate if I have power of attorney?An LPA ends at death and gives no authority over the estate. The asset test applies as normal.
- Do you need probate if there is a trust?Trust assets need no grant. Anything outside the trust is tested normally; a will trust needs a grant to be funded.
How things were owned
- Do I need probate if everything is in joint names?No for joint-tenant assets, which pass to the survivor. Check the property and look for sole-name items.
- Do you need probate for a joint bank account?No. The bank moves it to the survivor on the death certificate; the account is not frozen.
- Do I need probate for tenants in common?Yes, almost always. The share does not pass by survivorship and the Land Registry needs a grant.
- Do I need probate for a small estate?No statutory limit in England and Wales. Each bank sets its own, most large ones around £50,000.
- Do I need probate if there are no assets?No. Nothing to administer, no grant. What to do about debts and the funeral instead.
Particular assets
- Do you need probate for Premium Bonds?Not if total NS&I holdings were £5,000 or under. Above that, NS&I requires a grant.
- Do you need probate for a pension?Usually not. Most schemes pay at trustee discretion outside the estate. Exceptions listed.
- Do you need probate for life insurance?In trust: no. Not in trust: the payout is an estate asset and the insurer applies its own limit.
- Do you need probate for an ISA?Tested against the provider's limit like any sole-name account. The spouse allowance needs no grant.
- Do I need probate for shares?Depends on the registrar's or platform's small-estates limit. Certificated and nominee holdings differ.
- Do I need probate to sell a car?No. The DVLA does not require a grant; the V5C and death certificate are enough. Proceeds go to the estate.
- Do you need probate for a park home?Succession by a resident family member needs no grant. A sale by the estate usually does.
What you are trying to do
- Do I need probate to sell a house?Sole name or tenants in common: yes, to exchange contracts. Joint tenants: no.
- Do you need probate to close a bank account?Depends on the balance against that bank's limit. Most large banks: around £50,000.
- Do you need probate to open an executor's account?Most banks want the grant first; a few open one on the death certificate and will.
- Do I need probate if there is no inheritance tax?Often yes. Tax and probate are separate; most estates that need a grant pay no tax.
- Who decides if probate is required?Nobody central: each asset holder and the Land Registry decide. How to find out for certain.
- What happens if you don't apply for probate?No deadline for probate itself, but assets stay frozen, tax deadlines run and the executor carries the risk.
Common questions
Do you always need probate when someone dies in the UK?
No. Roughly half of deaths in England and Wales lead to a grant. It is needed only where an organisation holding an asset will not release or transfer it without one: typically a house or land in a sole name, property held as tenants in common, or a sole-name account above that bank's limit. Jointly owned assets pass to the survivor without it.
How much does an estate have to be worth before probate is required?
There is no single figure. Each bank, building society and registrar sets its own limit, most large UK banks at around £50,000 per institution, NS&I at £5,000. What matters is whether any single sole-name holding is above its holder's limit, not the total value of the estate. A house in a sole name needs a grant whatever it is worth.
Does having a will mean I don't need probate?
No. A will decides who applies for the grant and who inherits; it has no effect on whether a grant is needed. That depends entirely on the assets. The reverse is also true: not having a will does not force a grant, it just means the document is called letters of administration and the closest relative applies.
Who decides whether probate is needed?
No central authority does. Each organisation holding an asset decides whether it will act on the death certificate or insist on a grant, and the Land Registry will not transfer sole-name property without one. HM Courts and Tribunals Service will issue a grant to anyone entitled who applies; it does not tell you whether you needed to.
Can I find out if probate is needed without applying?
Yes. Ring the bereavement team of each organisation holding a sole-name asset, give the approximate value, and ask whether they will require a grant. For property, check the Land Registry title for how it was held. If no organisation asks for a grant, you do not need one.
What happens if I apply for probate when it wasn't needed?
The court will still issue the grant if you are entitled to it. You will have paid the £526 fee and waited several weeks for a document nobody required. Nothing else goes wrong, but it is a cost and a delay worth avoiding.
Related guides
Important
Solace is not a firm of solicitors and does not provide legal, tax or financial advice. We are an estate administration service and we are not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Financial Conduct Authority or any equivalent body. Nothing in this guide constitutes legal, tax or financial advice, and no solicitor–client relationship is created by reading it.
This article is general information only. It reflects the position in England and Wales at the date shown above; the law and the figures change, and Scotland and Northern Ireland differ in important respects. It may not apply to your circumstances. Whether a particular estate needs a grant is ultimately decided by the organisations holding the assets, and their limits change. Administering an estate carries personal legal responsibility, and you should obtain advice from a qualified solicitor, accountant or other regulated professional where appropriate. Always check current rates, fees and deadlines against GOV.UK before acting.