What Is Probate in the UK?

Probate is the legal authority to deal with a person's property, money and possessions after they die. In England and Wales, an executor named in a valid will applies for a grant of probate. If there is no will, an eligible close relative normally applies for letters of administration. People often use “probate” to describe both the grant and the wider work of administering the estate.

Start here: find the original will, identify the executors, contact each bank or asset provider to ask whether it requires a grant, and estimate the whole estate before applying. Do not assume that a “small estate” has one universal threshold—each financial organisation can set its own release rules.

When is probate needed?

A grant is commonly needed where the deceased owned a property in their sole name or held a bank, investment or other asset above that provider's probate threshold. GOV.UK says to contact the organisations holding the assets because their rules differ.

Probate may not be needed where the estate consists only of modest savings that providers agree to release, or assets pass automatically to a surviving joint owner. Property owned as joint tenants normally passes to the surviving owner. Property owned as tenants in common does not pass in the same way, so check the title and obtain legal advice if ownership is unclear.

Who can apply?

Situation	Who normally applies	Document issued
Valid will naming executors	One or more named executors	Grant of probate
No valid will	The most entitled close relative under the intestacy order	Letters of administration
Will exists but no executor can act	A person entitled under the relevant rules	Letters of administration with will annexed

Where several executors are named, they must agree who applies. Up to four can be named on the application. An executor may keep the right to apply later (“power reserved”), renounce permanently using the correct process, or in some circumstances appoint another person. These choices have legal consequences, so do not sign a renunciation casually.

The probate process, step by step

1. Register the death and secure documents. Locate the original will and codicils, death certificate, property papers, account statements, debts and evidence of significant lifetime gifts.
2. Contact asset and debt providers. Ask for date-of-death balances and each organisation's probate requirements. Tell insurers and protect any empty property.
3. Value the estate. List assets at realistic open-market values, joint interests, debts and relevant gifts. The probate application needs an estate value even when no Inheritance Tax is due.
4. Deal with Inheritance Tax reporting. Check whether the estate is excepted or whether form IHT400 and fuller information are required. Where tax is due, payment may need to begin before the grant.
5. Apply online or by post. With a will, the paper form is PA1P; without one it is PA1A. The original will—not a photocopy—must be sent where required and becomes a public record.
6. Answer any queries. Missing executors, damaged wills, inconsistent values or absent documents can stop the application while HMCTS requests more information.
7. Collect and administer the estate. After the grant, close or transfer assets, settle valid debts and tax, keep accounts, then distribute according to the will or intestacy rules.

How long does probate take?

GOV.UK currently says probate is usually issued within 12 weeks of submitting the application, but it can take longer where more information is needed. The latest published HMCTS operational statistics add context rather than a promise: in January to March 2026, probate grants averaged about five weeks from submission, while digital probate applications that were not stopped averaged about two weeks and stopped cases averaged about 14 weeks. Letters of administration followed different averages.

Those figures cover the grant stage only. Collecting assets, selling property, resolving tax and distributing the estate can take substantially longer, and one estate cannot be predicted from a national average.

A clean application is helped by using the latest forms, sending the original will, accounting for all executors, reconciling estate values and waiting for any required HMRC code before applying.

How much does probate cost?

In England and Wales, the current application fee is £526 where the estate is over £5,000, and there is no application fee at £5,000 or below. Extra grant copies cost £2 each when ordered with the application; later copies cost more. Help with fees may be available to an applicant on a low income or certain benefits.

This is the court application fee, not the entire cost of estate administration. Valuation, conveyancing, tax, tracing, professional and legal fees may be additional. Use our probate cost guide and calculator to separate them.

Documents and information to gather

• the original will and every codicil;
• death certificate and the deceased's identifying details;
• executor or administrator details;
• date-of-death balances for bank, savings, investments and debts;
• property ownership and a supportable market value;
• pension, life policy, business, trust and overseas-asset information;
• details of relevant gifts and jointly owned assets; and
• the estate's gross and net values and any HMRC reference or code required.

When professional help is sensible

Consider a regulated probate practitioner or specialist solicitor where the estate includes a business, trust, overseas assets, disputed ownership, lifetime gifts, complex tax, an insolvent estate, a missing beneficiary, a damaged or disputed will, or family conflict. Professional help can also be useful when an executor cannot manage the workload, but obtain a written scope and fee estimate.

Check whether a firm is regulated and understand whether its quote covers only obtaining the grant or the whole administration. A low “probate application” price may exclude valuations, tax work, property transfers and distribution.

Common mistakes

• using a copy of the will without following the lost-will procedure;
• assuming all joint assets automatically pass to the survivor;
• distributing money before debts, tax and claims are resolved;
• missing gifts, overseas assets or digital/crypto assets from the valuation;
• using an asset provider's release threshold as if it were a legal small-estate limit; and
• confusing the time to obtain a grant with the time to finish the estate.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

This guide covers England and Wales. Scotland uses a different process called confirmation, and Northern Ireland has its own probate rules and fee structure. Use the relevant official service for the place where the deceased was domiciled.

Official sources checked

• GOV.UK: what probate is and when it may be needed
• GOV.UK: applying online or by post
• GOV.UK: current probate fees
• GOV.UK: estimating an estate's value
• HMCTS: January to March 2026 probate timeliness statistics

Reviewed 3 September 2026. Probate, tax and court fees can change. This is general information for England and Wales, not legal or tax advice.