When a husband, wife or civil partner dies, the answer to "do I need probate?" is very often no. That is because of two rules that work in a surviving spouse's favour. First, anything you owned jointly, the family home held as joint tenants, joint bank and savings accounts, passes to you automatically by what the law calls the right of survivorship. It never forms part of the estate that probate deals with. Second, anything your spouse left to you is generally exempt from inheritance tax, so there is usually no tax process forcing a formal application either.
But "often" is not "always". Probate is still needed when the person who died held meaningful assets in their sole name: a bank or investment account above the institution's own threshold, a property owned solely or as tenants in common, an ISA (which can only ever be in one name), or a life policy that was not written in trust. This guide, which covers England and Wales, walks through both sides. If you would rather get a quick personal answer first, our free do I need probate checker takes only a handful of questions, with no details stored and nothing to sign up for.
First, a word about timing
There is no legal deadline to apply for probate, and very little that has to happen in the first days beyond registering the death and telling the key institutions. Banks will freeze sole accounts but will almost always release money for the funeral directly to the funeral director on sight of an invoice and the death certificate. If you are reading this soon after a bereavement, it is fine to put the paperwork down and come back to it. The steps below will still be here.
Why probate is often not needed when a spouse dies
Jointly owned property: the survivorship rule
Most married couples and civil partners in England and Wales own their home as joint tenants. Under this form of ownership, when one owner dies their share passes automatically to the survivor. It does not pass under the will, it is not distributed by an executor, and no grant of probate is needed to transfer it. You simply notify HM Land Registry with form DJP and a copy of the death certificate, and the register is updated to show you as sole owner. There is no fee for this.
The same survivorship principle applies to joint bank accounts, joint savings accounts and jointly held premium bonds or investments held in joint names. The account carries on in the survivor's name. Each bank or building society will ask for the death certificate, then remove your spouse's name. You can continue using the account throughout.
The spouse exemption for inheritance tax
Everything your spouse or civil partner left to you is normally free of inheritance tax under the spouse exemption, with no upper limit where both of you are UK domiciled (HMRC's guidance is at IHTM11031). Inheritance tax is charged at 40% above the threshold on estates generally (36% where 10% or more of the net estate goes to charity), but where the whole estate passes to a surviving spouse there is usually simply no tax to pay and no tax driven need for a grant.
Small sole name balances
Even money in your spouse's sole name may not need probate. Every bank, building society and NS&I sets its own probate threshold, commonly somewhere between £5,000 and £50,000, below which it will pay out to the next of kin against a death certificate and a signed declaration, without asking for a grant. So a sole current account with a modest balance is often released within a few weeks with no court involvement at all.
When probate IS still needed
Roughly speaking, probate becomes necessary when the person who died held assets in their own name that an institution will not release informally. The common triggers for surviving spouses are these.
1. Sole name accounts above the institution's threshold
If your spouse had a sole current account, savings account or investment account above the provider's limit, the provider will ask for a grant of probate (or letters of administration if there is no will) before releasing the money, even though it is coming to you. Thresholds differ between institutions, so the same estate can need probate at one bank and not at another. Ask each institution for its bereavement team's requirements in writing before applying for anything.
2. Property in a sole name, or held as tenants in common
If the home (or any other property, such as a buy to let) was in your spouse's sole name, survivorship does not apply and a grant is needed before the property can be transferred or sold. The same is true where you owned the home together as tenants in common, a form of joint ownership where each of you holds a distinct share that passes under the will rather than automatically. Couples who made wills with tax or care fee planning in mind sometimes deliberately chose tenants in common, so it is worth checking. The title register (£7 from HM Land Registry) will show a "Form A restriction" if the property was held as tenants in common.
3. ISAs in a sole name
ISAs cannot be held jointly, so every ISA is a sole name asset. Whether your husband's or wife's ISA needs probate depends purely on its value against that provider's threshold: a £15,000 cash ISA may be released informally, while a £100,000 stocks and shares ISA almost certainly will not be.
Two spouse specific points are worth knowing. First, the ISA keeps its tax free status while the estate is being administered (as a "continuing account of a deceased investor") for up to three years. Second, as the surviving spouse or civil partner you are entitled to an additional permitted subscription (APS): a one off extra ISA allowance equal to the value of your late spouse's ISA, on top of your own annual allowance. This lets the money stay inside a tax free wrapper in your name rather than losing its ISA status when it is paid out. You claim it through the ISA provider, and you do not have to have inherited the ISA money itself to use the allowance.
4. Life insurance policies not written in trust
A life policy written in trust, or a pension or death in service benefit with a completed nomination, pays out directly to the beneficiary outside the estate: no probate needed, and usually quickly. A policy simply held in your spouse's sole name with no trust pays into the estate instead, and above the insurer's threshold the insurer will ask for a grant first. Dig out the policy documents or ask the insurer which applies.
5. Other sole name assets
Shares held in your spouse's sole name, sole trader business assets and some NS&I holdings can also require a grant, each subject to the registrar's or institution's own rules. If any single institution insists on a grant, you will need to apply, even if every other asset passes without one.
A quick reference table
| Asset | How it was held | Is probate usually needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Family home | Joint tenants | No. Passes automatically; notify HM Land Registry (form DJP) |
| Family home | Tenants in common, or sole name | Yes, to deal with the deceased's share or the whole property |
| Bank account | Joint names | No. Account continues in survivor's name |
| Bank account | Sole name, below bank's threshold | Usually no. Released with death certificate and declaration |
| Bank account | Sole name, above bank's threshold | Yes |
| ISA | Always sole name | Depends on value versus provider threshold; APS available to spouse either way |
| Life policy | Written in trust or nominated | No. Pays beneficiary directly |
| Life policy | Sole name, no trust | Often yes, above the insurer's threshold |
| Pension death benefits | Nomination in place | No. Scheme pays at trustees' discretion |
If the pattern of your own situation is not obvious from the table, the do I need probate checker asks the same questions an adviser would and gives you a clear steer either way.
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What if there is no will?
Nothing above changes if your spouse died without a will. Joint tenant property and joint accounts still pass to you by survivorship, and small sole name balances are still released informally. The differences only appear where a grant is needed: you apply for letters of administration rather than probate, and as the surviving spouse or civil partner you are normally the person entitled to apply as administrator. The application, fee and timescale are the same.
Who inherits also changes. Under the intestacy rules, if there are no children you inherit the whole estate. If there are children, you receive the personal possessions, the first £322,000 (the statutory legacy) and half of anything above that, with the other half shared between the children. Note that these rules only protect married couples and civil partners: an unmarried partner inherits nothing under intestacy, however long the relationship.
Inheritance tax: usually nothing now, and a bigger allowance later
Because of the spouse exemption, a first death between spouses rarely produces an inheritance tax bill. Just as importantly, whatever proportion of the £325,000 nil-rate band (frozen until 5 April 2031) and the £175,000 residence nil-rate band your spouse did not use can be transferred to your estate later. A couple who leave everything to each other and then to their children can therefore pass on up to £1,000,000 free of inheritance tax on the second death. You do not need to claim the transfer now; your own executors claim it when the time comes, though keeping the paperwork from the first death (the will, the grant if there was one, and a note of any gifts) makes their job far easier. The mechanics, including the taper that erodes the residence nil-rate band above £2,000,000, are covered in our guide to the inheritance tax threshold for married couples.
If you do need probate: fees, timescales and first steps
Where a grant is needed, the process is the same as for any estate. The application fee is £526 for estates over £5,000 (the level set on 13 July 2026); estates at or below £5,000 pay nothing, and each sealed copy of the grant ordered alongside the application adds £2. On timing, the Family Court Statistics Quarterly for January to March 2026 records a mean wait of 6.4 weeks from submission to grant, falling to 4.5 weeks for the 82.6% of applications made digitally (paper: 16.5 weeks). Waits vary, and the valuation work before you apply often takes longer than the court stage; our guide to how long probate takes sets out the full timeline.
Whether or not probate turns out to be necessary, these first steps cover almost every situation:
- Register the death within five days and buy several certified copies of the death certificate (institutions rarely accept photocopies).
- Use the government's Tell Us Once service to notify HMRC, DWP, DVLA and the local council in one go.
- Contact each bank, building society and insurer's bereavement team and ask two things: what they hold in joint names versus your spouse's sole name, and their probate threshold.
- Check how the home is owned. Download the title register from HM Land Registry; a Form A restriction means tenants in common.
- Find the will (if there is one), any life policies and pension nominations, and note whether policies were written in trust.
- List the sole name assets and their values. If none exceeds the relevant threshold and there is no sole name or tenants in common property, you probably do not need probate. Otherwise, apply for the grant, or ask a specialist to.
- Claim the ISA additional permitted subscription from the provider if your spouse held ISAs, whatever the probate position.
This article deliberately focuses on the spouse specific rules. For the general asset by asset thresholds that apply to any estate, see our main guide on whether probate is needed, and there is more support written specifically for widows and widowers on our surviving spouses page.
When it is worth speaking to a specialist
Most surviving spouses can handle the joint asset notifications themselves, and many can make a straightforward probate application without help. It is worth a conversation with a specialist where the estate includes tenants in common property, business or agricultural assets, foreign assets, a trust in the will, or where inheritance tax forms are needed despite the spouse exemption. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice for your specific circumstances. We are an independent information and calculator service, and if you would like tailored help we can connect you with a vetted probate specialist. A sensible first step either way is to run your situation through the free do I need probate checker: two minutes of questions, a plain English answer, and no obligation at the end of it.