The Complete Guide to Probate in the UK
Probate is the legal process of proving a will and being authorised to deal with an estate. It is administrative, not adversarial — but it is slow, and it can be expensive if the estate wasn't planned for it.
Most probates in England and Wales now take between six and twelve months from application to completion. Where Inheritance Tax is due, HMRC must be paid before the grant is issued — often before the estate has been sold. That liquidity problem is where planning matters most.
What probate actually is
Probate is the Grant of Representation issued by the Probate Registry that gives the executor authority to collect assets, pay debts and distribute the estate. If there is no will, the equivalent is a Grant of Letters of Administration.
Until the grant is issued, banks will not release funds, property cannot be sold, and shares cannot be transferred. Small estates (typically under £5,000, sometimes higher at each bank's discretion) can often be released without probate.
How long it actually takes
Six to twelve months is now standard. Complex estates — foreign assets, disputes, tax investigations — take longer, sometimes years. The Probate Registry backlog and HMRC's IHT clearance process are both slower than they were pre-2020.
The IHT liquidity problem
Inheritance Tax on the non-property portion of the estate must be paid before the grant is issued. IHT on property can be paid in instalments over ten years, but the first instalment is due before the grant.
Executors regularly find themselves needing to raise a six-figure sum with no legal authority to access the deceased's accounts. Options include the direct-payment scheme (banks pay HMRC directly from the deceased's accounts), an executor's loan, or — and this is the planned answer — a life policy written in trust that pays out to the executors within days of death.
What it costs
The Probate Registry fee is £300 for estates over £5,000, plus £1.50 per additional copy of the grant. Solicitor's fees vary enormously — the market rate is usually 1-2% of the gross estate, though many firms will do fixed-fee probate for straightforward estates from around £1,500 plus VAT.
The biggest cost is almost always time, not fees.
Common mistakes
- ·Naming an executor who lives abroad, is elderly, or has never handled paperwork — probate takes a year even for competent executors.
- ·No life cover to fund the IHT bill, forcing a distressed property sale within six months.
- ·Assuming joint accounts pass automatically. They usually do — but the deceased's share still counts for IHT.
- ·Not telling executors where the will is, or who the pension providers are. Every hour spent hunting for information is an hour of probate delay.
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