1 in 2 people need probate after someone dies

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What is probate?

Probate is the legal and financial process of dealing with the property, money, and possessions of someone who has died.

1 in 2 people need probate after someone dies, even if there’s a will

If the person who died owned a house in their sole name or had more than £30,000 in the bank, it’s likely you'll need probate, even with a will. Without probate, these assets can't be sold or transferred.

Probate involves a lot of legal, tax and administrative work

There can be around 100 hours of work involved in probate, which can be complicated. The person or organisation who does this work could be held personally responsible for any mistakes made.

Do you need probate?

Whether probate is needed depends on what was owned by the person who died and how it was owned. Below we explain whether probate is needed in 4 common scenarios.

Owned their own home

  • owned a property
  • this was in their sole name

Probate is likely to be needed because the property can’t be sold or transferred without it.

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Owned high-value assets

  • owned shares in their sole name, or
  • had over £30,000 in the bank (not a joint account)

Probate is likely to be needed to deal with either of these assets.

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Owned joint assets

  • owned a house as joint tenants
  • kept savings in a joint account

Probate is unlikely to be needed because these assets will simply transfer to the surviving owner.

didn't own many assets

Didn't own many assets

  • didn’t own high value assets
  • had less than £30,000 in savings

Probate is unlikely to be needed because most banks will release up to £30,000 without probate.

Find out if you need probate

Practical things Co-op Legal Services will do

There’s a lot of work involved in probate, but Co-op Legal Services can take full responsibility for you. They’ll take a few key details from you and then they’ll handle the rest. These are the main tasks they’ll do on your behalf:

Take care of the legal work

  • Apply for the legal paperwork (grant of probate)
  • Identify who has authority to deal with the estate
  • Check if there is a will and confirm it's valid
  • If there isn’t a valid will, apply inheritance laws
  • Deal with shares, including those owned in the wrong name or with a missing share certificate
  • Notify creditors of the death to reduce the risk of claims
  • Identify gifts the person made before they died and adjust beneficiaries’ inheritance if needed
  • Put insurance in place so the estate can be distributed early without the risk of a claim
  • Accurately distribute inheritance
  • Distribute assets to trustees, if any trusts have been created

Handle the tax

  • Deal with HMRC on your behalf
  • Identify and claim all available tax reliefs, exemptions and allowances
  • Locate, verify and value all assets (including joint assets)
  • Calculate Inheritance Tax on any gifts the person made before they died
  • Calculate other Inheritance Tax, Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax
  • Complete the relevant Inheritance Tax form
  • Complete an Income Tax return
  • Complete a Capital Gains Tax return, if required
  • Pay all the tax owed from the estate
  • Resolve any issues or queries raised by HMRC

Complete the admin

  • Deal with banks, insurers and other organisations to close accounts, collect assets and settle bills
  • Update everyone who’s inheriting from the estate (the beneficiaries)
  • Help ensure empty property is properly insured and secure
  • Help with arranging the sale of any property
  • Liaise with the Department for Work and Pensions and resolve queries with them
  • Prepare detailed accounts of money coming into and out of the estate
  • Identify and settle all estate debt

If you think you need help with probate

The cost of probate

Many things can affect the cost of probate, including: - the number of assets owned by the person who died - whether or not there was a will - the number of people who will inherit from the estate

To help you understand probate pricing, we’ve put together some examples of how much probate could cost based on different types of estate.

Probate pricing examples

Probate team overview
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Probate support you can rely on

Taking on the risk and responsibility

Co-op Legal Services’ probate specialists can take on all the risk and responsibility of probate. They will complete all the legal, tax and admin work for you. Their specialist probate solicitors, case managers, advisors and consultants share a wealth of experience, and are trusted with £3 billion in estates every year.

Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority

Co-op Legal Services is regulated and authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). This means they must adhere to strict codes of practice and this regulation offers you the maximum level of protection. In addition, any work they carry out is fully insured, and all client money held on account is protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).