What is probate and do I need it?

What is probate?

Probate is the legal process of administering someone’s estate after they die. “The estate” means everything the person owned — property, bank accounts, investments, personal possessions — minus any debts and liabilities.

When you obtain probate (technically, a Grant of Probate if there is a will, or Letters of Administration if there isn’t), you receive a legal document from HMCTS that gives you the authority to:

• Access and close bank accounts held in the deceased’s sole name
• Transfer or sell property owned solely in the deceased’s name
• Collect investments, savings, and pension death benefits
• Pay outstanding debts and liabilities from the estate
• Distribute what remains to the beneficiaries named in the will (or under intestacy rules if there’s no will)

Without this document, most financial institutions and the Land Registry won’t allow you to access accounts or transfer property.

Do I always need probate?

Not always. Whether probate is required depends on:

• The type of assets involved — property held solely in the deceased’s name almost always requires probate. Bank accounts may or may not.
• The value of the accounts — most banks have an internal threshold above which they require sight of the Grant of Probate before releasing funds. This varies widely: HSBC may release up to £50,000 without probate; some smaller institutions may have lower thresholds. You’ll need to contact each institution directly.
• How assets were owned — assets owned jointly (as “joint tenants”) often pass automatically to the surviving owner without needing probate. Check the title on property and the account ownership type.

When probate is NOT usually needed

• Jointly owned assets held as joint tenants — these pass automatically to the surviving owner by right of survivorship
• Assets held in trust — these are distributed according to the trust deed, not the estate
• Pension benefits with a nominated beneficiary — nominated benefits are paid directly to the named person and bypass the estate
• Life insurance policies written in trust — paid directly to the named beneficiaries
• Very small estates with low-value accounts below each institution’s threshold

What is the difference between PA1P and PA1A?

If the deceased left a valid will, you apply for a Grant of Probate using form PA1P. The executors named in the will apply.

If the deceased died without a will (intestate), you apply for Letters of Administration using form PA1A. The person with the highest entitlement under intestacy rules applies — usually the surviving spouse or civil partner, or if none, the children.

TidyEstate generates whichever form is appropriate based on whether a will exists. You simply enter the deceased’s details and your own, and we fill in the form.

What if there’s no will?

If the deceased didn’t leave a valid will, they died “intestate”. The estate is distributed according to the intestacy rules — a fixed legal order of priority that determines who inherits. Broadly:

1. Surviving spouse or civil partner (they inherit the first £322,000 plus half of anything above; the remainder goes to children)
2. Children (if no spouse, they inherit equally)
3. Parents, then siblings, then other relatives (in priority order)
4. The Crown (if no qualifying relatives)

The intestacy rules can produce results that don’t reflect what the deceased would have wanted — for example, an unmarried partner receives nothing. This is why having a valid will is so important.

How long does probate take?

HMCTS issues a Grant usually within 12 weeks of a correctly completed application — HMCTS recently reported around 5 weeks — a Grant of Probate application once a correctly completed application is received. The overall process of administering an estate — from valuation to final distribution — typically takes 6–12 months for a straightforward estate.

Complex estates (with IHT disputes, multiple properties, business interests, or foreign assets) can take considerably longer.

What does TidyEstate do?

TidyEstate guides you through the entire probate process. Free features include the estate profile builder, IHT calculator, task list, secure document storage and co-executor access. For a one-time fee of £79 per case, we prepare every answer for GOV.UK’s online probate application from your data (you submit it yourself) and produce your institution notification letters.

We are not solicitors and do not provide legal advice. For complex estates, we tell you clearly when to instruct a regulated solicitor.