Probate and estate administration explained: a step-by-step guide for executors

If you have been named as an executor, or someone close to you has died without a will, you are probably facing a job you have never done before. This guide explains what is involved, in the order it usually happens.

What is probate?

Strictly, probate is the court's confirmation that an executor has the legal authority to deal with someone's estate. The document is called a grant of probate. If there is no will, the equivalent is a grant of letters of administration, and the person dealing with the estate is called an administrator rather than an executor.

In everyday speech, "probate" is used for the whole process of sorting out an estate. That is fine, but it helps to know the difference, because the grant is only one step in a much longer job.

Probate and estate administration: the difference

Estate administration is everything an executor does: finding out what the person owned and owed, valuing it, dealing with inheritance tax, collecting the money in, paying the debts, and passing what is left to the beneficiaries.

The grant application is the formal paperwork submitted to the court. Preparing it for a fee is a reserved legal activity under the Legal Services Act 2007, which means only authorised firms, such as solicitors, licensed conveyancers, chartered legal executives and certain accountants, can do it for payment.

The rest of the administration is not reserved. Executors can do it themselves, or ask someone else to do it for them.

Do you always need probate?

Not always. You may not need a grant if:

• everything was jointly owned and passes automatically to the surviving owner, such as a jointly owned home held as joint tenants or a joint bank account;
• the estate is small, and each bank or building society agrees to release the money without one;
• the main assets are pensions or life policies that pay out directly to a named beneficiary.

Each bank sets its own limit for releasing funds without a grant, and they vary a lot. If the person owned a house or flat in their sole name, you will almost always need one to sell or transfer it.

Step 1: Find the will and the executors

Start by finding the original will. Check the person's papers, ask their will writer or solicitor, and check whether it was stored professionally or deposited with the probate service. A copy is not usually enough, so the original matters. Our guide to storing a will explains where wills are commonly kept.

The will names the executors. If there is no will, the intestacy rules decide who can apply, usually a spouse or civil partner first, then children. Our guide to dying without a will explains the order.

Step 2: Work out what the estate holds and owes

This is the longest part of the early work. You will need to:

• contact every bank, building society, pension provider, insurer and investment platform;
• get the home and any other property valued;
• list possessions of real value, such as vehicles, jewellery and collections;
• identify debts: mortgages, credit cards, loans, utility bills, care home fees and any tax owed.

The government's Tell Us Once service, offered when the death is registered, notifies many public bodies in one go, which saves some calls.

Step 3: Inheritance tax

Every estate that needs a grant has to report its value to HMRC, even if no tax is due. For most estates, no inheritance tax is payable, because:

• everyone has a nil-rate band of £325,000;
• there is an extra residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000 when a home passes to children or grandchildren;
• anything left to a spouse or civil partner is normally exempt, and their unused allowances can pass to the survivor.

Where tax is due, it is normally payable by the end of the sixth month after the death, and at least part of it usually has to be paid before the grant is issued. Interest runs on late payment. Our inheritance tax page covers planning ahead.

Step 4: Apply for the grant

Once the estate is valued and HMRC has been dealt with, the application goes to the probate registry, usually online. The court fee is £526 for estates over £5,000, for applications made from 13 July 2026. Estates of £5,000 or less pay no fee.

Processing times vary, so build in a margin before promising anyone a date.

Step 5: Collect in, and pay what is owed

With the grant, you can close accounts, cash in or transfer investments, and sell or transfer property. Money should go into an estate account in the executors' names, never mixed with anyone's personal money.

Before paying out to beneficiaries, executors normally place statutory notices for unknown creditors and allow at least two months for claims. This protects you personally if a debt surfaces later. Then pay the funeral costs, debts and any remaining tax.

Step 6: Accounts and distribution

Prepare estate accounts showing everything that came in, everything paid out, and what each beneficiary receives. Ask the beneficiaries to approve them, then pay any specific gifts in the will before distributing what is left.

Many executors wait until six months after the grant before making the final distribution. That is the usual time limit for a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, and distributing early can leave an executor exposed.

How long does it take?

Most straightforward estates take between nine and twelve months from start to finish. Selling a property, inheritance tax, assets abroad or a disagreement between beneficiaries can stretch that considerably.

What does it cost?

There are three types of cost:

• Court and third-party fees: the probate application fee, property valuations, statutory notices and any search fees. These are paid from the estate.
• Professional fees, if you use help. Some firms charge by the hour, some take a percentage of the estate, and some quote a fixed fee. Ask which, and get it in writing.
• Your own time, which is the cost people most often underestimate.

Professional fees are paid from the estate, not by the executor personally.

Getting help

You can administer an estate yourself, and many people do. You can also hand some or all of the work to a professional and stay in charge of the decisions.

We offer estate administration at a fixed fee, agreed in writing before we start. We never hold estate money: funds stay in an account in the executors' names. The grant application itself goes through a regulated partner firm, whose fee you will know in advance. You can read how it works on our probate page.

If you are making your will and want to spare your family this job, you can also appoint a professional executor. Our guide to professional trustees and executors explains when that is worth it. And if you are a Deaf executor, our guide on being a Deaf executor covers the adjustments you can ask for.

This article is general information about England and Wales, not legal or tax advice, and fees and rules can change. For guidance on a particular estate, please get in touch.