Probate
If someone has died and you have been told you need probate, this page sets out what that means, what has to happen and in what order. There is no rush on the first conversation.
What a grant of probate is
A grant is a document from the Probate Registry confirming who has the legal authority to deal with someone’s estate after they have died.
Which grant depends on whether there is a will, and whether it has an executor able and willing to act. If there is a valid will naming an executor who can act, that person applies for a grant of probate. If there is a valid will but no executor able or willing to act, the people entitled to apply instead are generally the residuary beneficiaries under the will, for letters of administration with the will annexed. If there is no will at all, the relative entitled under the rules of intestacy applies for letters of administration. Either way, that person is called an administrator rather than an executor, though all three grants do the same job.
Not every estate needs a grant at all. Smaller estates, and assets held jointly or in accounts that release funds without one, often do not require it. This is worth checking before you assume you need a grant, and before you pay anyone to obtain one.
The sequence
Dealing with an estate happens in roughly this order:
- Register the death.
- Find the will, and check whether there is one.
- Value the estate — everything owned and everything owed, at the date of death.
- Report the estate’s value.
- Apply for the grant.
- Collect in the assets.
- Pay debts and any tax due.
- Distribute what is left to those entitled.
- Produce estate accounts.
Valuing the estate is usually the slowest early step, because it depends on banks, pension providers and HM Land Registry each responding. Later on, waiting for a property sale to complete, or for HMRC to confirm the tax position, is what most often holds up distribution.
How long it takes
Most straightforward estates take six to twelve months from death to final distribution.
Several things commonly extend that: a property that has to be sold before there is enough cash to pay debts or distribute; an enquiry opened by HMRC into the estate’s tax position; a beneficiary who cannot be traced; or a claim brought against the estate by someone who says they should have inherited, or inherited more.
What an executor is responsible for
An executor is responsible for administering the estate correctly: valuing it accurately, paying debts and any tax before distributing anything, and distributing according to the will. If any of that is done incorrectly — for instance paying out before a debt or tax bill is settled — the executor can be personally liable to make good the loss, even where the mistake was unintentional. That is why most executors take advice rather than manage an estate entirely alone.
Grant only, or the whole administration
There are two ways to instruct us.
Under a grant-only instruction, we prepare the application and obtain the grant; you deal with everything else — collecting in the assets, paying debts, distributing, and producing accounts. This suits an executor who is comfortable dealing with banks and paperwork and mainly wants the legal step done properly.
Under a full administration instruction, we handle the whole sequence, from the initial valuation through to final distribution and accounts. This suits larger estates, estates with a business or assets abroad, estates likely to be contested, or an executor who would simply rather not do it themselves.
Questions people ask
Often not. Many banks and building societies release funds below a certain amount without a grant, and assets held jointly usually pass to the surviving joint owner automatically. Whether you need a grant depends on what the estate holds and where it is held — worth checking before you assume you need one.
Someone still has to deal with the estate, but there is no executor to do it. Instead, whoever is entitled to act under the rules of intestacy applies for letters of administration, and the estate is distributed according to those rules rather than any wishes the person who died might have mentioned informally.
Costs of dealing with the estate — including ours — are paid from the estate, not by the executor personally. An executor sometimes has to fund small costs upfront before the estate's own money is accessible, and is reimbursed from the estate once funds start coming in.
Executors named together generally have to act jointly, so a serious disagreement can hold things up. It is often resolved by one executor stepping back from day-to-day decisions while remaining named, or by the executors agreeing a way of working between them. Where that is not possible, the disagreement may need to go to the court to resolve.
Yes — many people do, particularly for smaller, simple estates. It gets harder without help where the estate includes a property, a business, or assets abroad, where HMRC is likely to make enquiries, or where the family situation makes a dispute likely. If you start it yourself and find it is more than you expected, you can still instruct someone partway through.
Talk to us
Send an enquiry and tell us where things stand. Enquiries receive a response within one working day.