Probate is the legal right to deal with the property, money and possessions of someone who has died. Whether you need it depends on what the estate contains, not how large it is: a house in the sole name of the person who died almost always needs a grant, while an estate of any size held jointly may not. You apply online or by post after valuing the estate, the application fee is £526 where the estate is over £5,000 (GOV.UK's fees page, 2026/27), and GOV.UK's guidance says you will usually get the grant within 12 weeks of submitting. Correct as at 27 August 2026.
What is probate?
GOV.UK defines probate as the legal right to deal with someone's estate when they die. The document you receive is a grant: a grant of probate where there is a will naming executors, or letters of administration where there is not. Both do the same job. Banks, HM Land Registry and other institutions will not release or transfer the assets they hold until they see it.
GOV.UK's guidance is direct on one point: do not make financial plans or put property on the market until the grant is issued.
Do you need probate at all?
Not always, and the deciding factor is how each asset was owned. There is no single value threshold at which probate becomes necessary. GOV.UK's advice is to contact each organisation the person held assets with, because every one has its own rules.
| What the estate holds | Is a grant usually needed? |
|---|---|
| A house or land in the sole name of the person who died | Yes |
| Property owned with someone else as joint tenants | No. It passes automatically to the surviving owner |
| Money or shares owned jointly | No. These pass to the surviving owners unless a different agreement was in place |
| Bank accounts in the person's sole name | Depends on the bank and the balance. Each sets its own limit |
| Only savings | Often not, per GOV.UK. Check with each institution |
Two cautions on reading that table. First, mixed estates are decided asset by asset: one sole-name asset that requires a grant means you apply, however the rest was held. Second, not needing probate does not mean the estate has no Inheritance Tax position. The two are separate questions.
Who can apply?
If there is a will, the executors named in it apply for the grant of probate. Nobody else can, while the executors are willing and able to act.
If there is no will, GOV.UK sets the order: the closest living relative applies to become the administrator of the estate. That is normally the husband, wife or civil partner, including where the couple had separated, followed by children aged 18 or over (legally adopted children yes, step-children no). A surviving partner who was not married or in a civil partnership cannot apply, whatever the length of the relationship, and the intestacy rules decide who inherits.
Inheritance Tax comes before the application
The order of events catches people out. You cannot simply apply for the grant and sort the tax out later: valuing the estate and dealing with the Inheritance Tax position come first, and for many estates the tax itself starts being paid before the grant is issued.
If the estate does not have to send HMRC full details or pay any tax, it is an excepted estate. Its figures are declared within the probate application itself and you can apply straight away.
If it is not excepted, the full IHT400 account goes to HMRC before you apply, with the estate's assets, debts, any reliefs claimed and the gifts made in the 7 years before death. GOV.UK is explicit that you must then start paying any Inheritance Tax due and wait for HMRC to send a unique code before the probate application can go in. The tax runs on its own clock: payment is due by the end of the sixth month after the person died, with interest charged after that, and the grant usually arrives later than that deadline. Paying tax on money still locked in the estate's own accounts is a real sequencing problem, with established routes round it, including payment direct from the deceased's bank accounts.
How do you apply, and what does the application cost?
Most people apply online through GOV.UK once the estate is valued. Postal applications use form PA1P where there is a will and form PA1A where there is not, and GOV.UK notes that paper applications take longer to process.
The application fee is £526 where the estate is over £5,000, and there is no fee at £5,000 or less. Extra copies of the grant cost £2 each if ordered with the application (worth doing, since each institution wants to see one) and £16 each afterwards. A second application, for example by an executor who held power reserved on the first, costs £22. Help with fees exists for applicants on a low income or certain benefits. The court fee is only one part of what an estate pays out before it is settled: our guide to what probate costs in the UK covers the full picture, including how professional fees are charged.
How long does it take?
GOV.UK's current guidance is that you will usually get the grant within 12 weeks of submitting the application, and longer if the registry needs additional information. Paper applications sit at the slower end. The elapsed time from death to grant is usually longer again, because the valuation and the tax account come first.
The grant is also not the finish line. It is the document that lets the administration start in earnest: collecting the assets, settling the debts, dealing with any tax arising during the administration period, and distributing what remains. Our guide to an executor's first 30 days covers the stage before any of this, in the weeks straight after the death.
Example
Example. A woman dies in 2026/27, divorced, leaving everything to her two adult children. Her will names her son as executor. The estate is her home in her sole name, worth £350,000, and £50,000 of savings and belongings: £400,000 in all.
The house is in her sole name, so a grant is needed. On the tax, £400,000 is above the £325,000 nil-rate band (2026/27), but because she left her home to her children, the estate can also claim the residence nil-rate band of £175,000 (2026/27). Together the two bands cover £500,000, so no Inheritance Tax is due.
No tax to pay does not mean no forms. The residence nil-rate band has to be claimed through the full IHT400 account, so this estate is not excepted: her son submits the account to HMRC, waits for the unique code, then applies online and pays the £526 fee. Had the whole estate sat below £325,000, it would have been excepted and he could have applied straight away. The route was set by what the estate needed to claim, not by its size.
What to do now
If you are handling an estate, the useful first moves are these:
- Ask each bank, insurer and registrar what they need before they will release the asset. Their answers tell you whether a grant is needed at all.
- Start the valuation early, and request full bank statements at the same time. The gifts made in the 7 years before death have to be reported, and our guide to declaring lifetime gifts on IHT403 explains what HMRC asks for.
- Work out the Inheritance Tax position before touching the application, because the route (excepted or full account) sets your sequence and your timetable.
- Decide how much of it to run yourself. GOV.UK points out that applying yourself can be cheaper than paying a professional. Estates with a full IHT400, business assets, reliefs to claim or property being sold during the administration are where professional help earns its fee.
Whether an accountant or a solicitor is the right professional for a given estate has its own answer: our guide to whether an accountant can do probate sets out the comparison.
A note on scope. Vision Consulting is licensed by the ICAEW for non-contentious probate in England and Wales, which is the ordinary, undisputed process described in this guide, and our probate service covers everything from the tax account to the grant and the administration. Where a will or an estate is disputed, that is contentious work and sits with litigation solicitors, alongside whom we work. The firm also prepares wills, with inheritance tax and your wider estate position in mind, so the estate your executors handle is in order before any of this starts.
Frequently Asked Questions
GOV.UK says you will usually get the grant within 12 weeks of submitting the application, longer if the registry needs more information. The stages before you can apply, valuing the estate and dealing with the tax account, add weeks or months on top.
No. Assets owned jointly usually pass to the surviving owner without a grant, and banks can release sole-name balances below their own limits. What decides it is how each asset was owned, not the size of the estate.
A grant of probate is issued to the executors named in a will. Letters of administration are issued where there is no will, to the closest living relative, who becomes the administrator. Both are grants doing the same job, and the application fee and process are the same.
No. The estate must be valued first, and if a full IHT400 account is needed you must submit it, start paying any tax due and wait for HMRC's unique code before applying. Only an excepted estate, one with no full account to send, can apply straight away.
The application fee is £526 where the estate is over £5,000, and nothing at £5,000 or less, per GOV.UK's fees page. Extra copies of the grant cost £2 each at application and £16 each later. Professional fees for handling the estate are separate and depend on the work involved.
Talk to us about the estate in front of you
If you are facing a probate application, or trying to work out whether one is needed, speak to Chloe Symmonds, Senior Manager. The first conversation maps what the estate holds, which route it takes, and which parts you may want handled for you. Call 020 8554 2135 or email info@visionconsulting.co.uk, or use our contact page.
By the Vision Consulting team.
This is general information, not advice. Your position depends on your circumstances. Speak to us before acting on anything here.