Do you need probate? A complete guide

You need probate when an institution that holds the deceased person's assets refuses to release or transfer them without it. In practice that means you almost certainly need probate if the person who died owned a property in their sole name, held shares in their own name, had NS&I savings (including Premium Bonds) over £5,000, or held more money with a single bank than that bank's own release threshold, which ranges from about £5,000 to £50,000 depending on the institution. You generally do not need probate for jointly owned assets that pass to the survivor automatically, or for small estates made up of modest balances and personal possessions.

That is the short answer, and for many families it is enough to settle the question either way. The rest of this guide explains what probate actually is, walks through each trigger in detail, and shows you exactly how to find out for certain, starting with our free do I need probate checker, which asks about the assets in the estate and tells you whether a grant is likely to be required.

What probate legally is

Probate is the legal process of proving your authority to deal with the estate of someone who has died. In England and Wales (this guide covers England and Wales throughout; Scotland has a separate system called confirmation) the process ends with a court-issued document called a grant of representation. There are two main types:

• Grant of probate, issued to the executors named in a valid will.
• Letters of administration, issued to the closest entitled relative where there is no will, or no executor able to act.

People use "probate" loosely to cover both, and so does this guide. Either way, the grant does the same job: it is the official proof that banks, the Land Registry, share registrars and other institutions accept before they will hand over or transfer the deceased's assets. The application process itself is set out on GOV.UK's applying for probate guidance.

One point worth clearing up straight away: whether you need probate has almost nothing to do with whether there is a will. A will decides who inherits and who applies; the assets decide whether a grant is needed at all. If your question is specifically about wills, our companion post on whether you need probate if there is a will deals with it fully.

When you DO need probate

Property in the deceased's sole name

This is the clearest trigger. If the person who died owned a house, flat or land in their sole name, the Land Registry will not transfer or allow a sale of the property without a grant. The same applies to their share of a property held as tenants in common, where each owner holds a distinct share that passes under the will rather than to the co-owner. If a sole-name property is in the estate, plan on applying for probate.

Bank and building society accounts above the institution's threshold

There is no legal minimum estate value for probate. Instead, each bank and building society sets its own threshold below which it will release funds without a grant, usually against the death certificate and a signed declaration or indemnity. These thresholds vary enormously, from around £5,000 at the most cautious institutions to £50,000 or more at the most generous. The same estate can therefore need probate at one bank and not at another. Two accounts of £20,000 each at two different banks may both be released without a grant, while a single £40,000 account at a cautious bank may not.

Shares and investments held in the deceased's name

Shares registered in the deceased's sole name usually cannot be sold or transferred without a grant, whatever their value, because the registrar needs formal proof of who is entitled to deal with them. Investment platforms and fund managers apply thresholds similar to banks for smaller holdings, but certificated shareholdings are one of the most common reasons an otherwise simple estate ends up needing probate.

NS&I savings and Premium Bonds over £5,000

National Savings and Investments generally requires a grant where the deceased's total NS&I holdings, including Premium Bonds, exceed £5,000, although it keeps some discretion to pay out without one. Below that figure NS&I will normally settle a claim on its own bereavement forms. Details are on the NS&I bereavement support pages. Remember that Premium Bonds can stay in the prize draw for up to 12 months after death, so there is no need to rush to cash them in on day one.

When you do NOT need probate

Joint assets passing by survivorship

Assets held as joint tenants pass automatically to the surviving owner the moment the other dies. This is called survivorship, and it operates outside the will and outside probate entirely. It covers most joint bank accounts and the many family homes owned as joint tenants. The survivor simply notifies the bank or the Land Registry with the death certificate. This is why so many estates where a husband, wife or civil partner survives need no grant at all; our post on whether you need probate when a spouse dies covers that situation in depth.

Small estates

If the estate consists of bank balances below each institution's threshold, personal possessions, a car, and jointly held assets, no grant is normally required. The banks pay out against their own bereavement paperwork, and possessions simply pass to whoever is entitled. There is no court process to complete and no fee to pay.

Assets that never enter the estate

Some assets bypass the estate altogether: life insurance written in trust pays directly to the named beneficiaries, and pension death benefits are usually paid at the scheme's discretion to nominated beneficiaries. Neither needs probate (note that unused pension funds and death benefits enter inheritance tax from 6 April 2027, which changes the tax position but not the probate one).

What probate is not

Finally, do not confuse probate with power of attorney. A lasting power of attorney is authority to act for someone while they are alive and ends immediately on death; probate is authority to act after death. If a family member holds an LPA and has just died, or you are unsure which document does what, see power of attorney vs probate.

How to find out for certain

Because the answer turns on each institution's own rules, the reliable route is a short, methodical check:

1. List everything the person owned: property, each bank and building society account, shares, NS&I holdings, vehicles, valuables, and anything owned jointly.
2. Note how each asset was owned: sole name, joint tenants, or tenants in common. For property, a £7 Land Registry title check confirms it.
3. Run the estate through our do I need probate checker for an instant steer on whether a grant is likely.
4. Ask each institution directly. Every bank has a bereavement team. Tell them the balance and ask, "will you release this without a grant of representation?" Their written answer is definitive for that asset.
5. If any single institution says it needs a grant, you need probate. One trigger asset is enough; you cannot apply for a partial grant covering only some assets.

If you do need probate: the process in brief

Needing probate is not bad news, just a process. Before applying you value the estate and report it to HMRC where required, following the GOV.UK guidance on valuing the estate. Most estates qualify as excepted estates, meaning no inheritance tax is due and no full tax account is needed; you simply declare the values within the probate application. Broadly, an estate is excepted where it is below the £325,000 nil-rate band, or below £3 million with everything passing tax-free to a spouse, civil partner or charity. Larger or more complex estates must file the full IHT400 account with HMRC and pay any tax due before the grant is issued. That is a topic in its own right; our inheritance tax hub covers the thresholds and forms.

The application fee is £526 for estates over £5,000 (it rose on 13 July 2026), with no fee at or below £5,000, and extra sealed copies cost £2 each when ordered with the application. On timing, the official Family Court Statistics Quarterly for January to March 2026 puts the mean wait at 6.4 weeks from submission; most people apply digitally (82.6%), where the mean drops to 4.5 weeks, while paper applications averaged 16.5 weeks. You can model your own likely wait with the probate timeline estimator, and if you are acting as executor our executors hub walks through the whole role step by step.

Speak to a specialist

Most families can settle the "do we need probate" question themselves with the checks above, and many can handle the application too. If the estate involves a sole-name property, business interests, trusts or inheritance tax, it is often worth having a specialist handle the grant. If that describes your estate, we can put you in touch with a vetted probate specialist. Either way, the do I need probate checker is the quickest route to finding out whether a grant is needed at all. This guide is general information, not legal advice.