Is probate needed if there are no assets?

Chain of representation

Probate might be needed if the person who died was appointed as the executor of a will, or if they were the only person entitled to deal with an estate under the rules of intestacy.

For example, Z passes away, appointing A as their executor and leaving their estate to B and C. A dies before dealing with Z’s estate. In this instance, a grant of probate is needed on A's estate before Z's estate can be administered.

A similar situation is where there are no assets in the deceased's name, but they are a beneficiary of another estate which was not finalised before their death. For example, their mother's estate. In this case, their entitlement from their mother's estate counts as an asset of their estate and a grant of probate may be needed to transfer the assets from their mother's estate to the deceased's estate.

Find out more about the chain of representation.

Probate thresholds

Banks and other financial institutions have different limits of the amount of money they will allow to be released without a grant of probate. For example, Lloyds Bank will allow up to £50,000 to be released without requesting a grant, however the Post Office only allows up to £10,000. If a person dies with £30,000 in Lloyds and £12,000 in the Post Office, the Post Office would require sight of a grant of probate, but Lloyds may release the funds without this.

Find out more about bank limits for probate.

If the deceased only had small amounts in bank accounts, it is unlikely a grant of probate will be needed to release the funds.

Joint assets

If the person who died did not have any assets in their sole name but owned everything in joint names with someone else (such as their spouse or civil partner) then these assets will be dealt with in a different way.

When it comes to property, this can be held jointly in two ways:

• as joint tenants
• as tenants in common

If the property is held as joint tenants, ownership will pass automatically to the surviving co-owner. If the asset is held as tenants in common, a grant of probate will be needed to transfer the deceased's share to the correct beneficiary under the terms of the will or rules of intestacy.

For bank accounts and any other assets held jointly, these will pass into the ownership of the surviving owner. The bank will simply take the name of the deceased person off the account, leaving it in the survivor's name. Probate will not be required for this.

Insolvent estate

An estate is insolvent if the debts of an estate outweigh the assets. In these cases, even though there may be no funds to be paid out to the beneficiaries, a grant of probate may still be needed to deal with the assets and pay off as much of the debt as possible. For example, if the deceased owned a house in their sole name but had a mortgage and other loans/credit cards that total more than the house is worth, the house still needs to be sold and funds allocated according to the order of priority of debts. A grant of probate is still needed to be able to sell the house.

Find out more about insolvent estates.