5% or £100 off probate (whichever is greater) for MSE readers

Get money off our probate and estate administration service with this Money Saving Expert reader offer.

  • Transparent pricing, with no obligation fixed fee quotes
  • The largest and most experienced team of probate specialists in the UK, trusted to deal with over £3 billion in estates annually
  • Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, affording Money Saving Expert readers added protection
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Named by MoneySavingExpert.com as a probate service, regulated by the SRA, we offer affordable probate and estate administration with the greatest level of protection.

save on average*

£225

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When is probate needed?

Whether probate* is needed depends on what ‘assets’ were owned by the person who died. Examples of assets include bank accounts, property and shares.

It’s likely you’ll need probate if the person who died had any of these assets:

  • property owned in their sole name
  • property owned as tenants in common
  • bank or building society accounts in their sole name worth over £30,000 – this may vary depending on the limit set by their bank
  • shares or investments worth over £10,000
  • Premium Bonds or other National Savings & Investments (NS&I) products worth over £5,000
  • a pension that will pay a lump sum to the estate
  • a life insurance policy that will pay a lump sum to the estate
  • business assets or interests

** In Scotland this is known as confirmation.*

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

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

Contact us to get a fixed fee quote

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Terms and conditions

  • *Savings may vary. The average saving is based on the average cost of probate.
  • This offer is available on probate services in England, Wales & Scotland only.
  • The discount does not apply to disbursements. This discount is non-transferable, cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or discount and may not be exchanged for cash. Co-op Legal Services reserves the right to withdraw this offer at any time.
  • Co-op Legal Services is a trading name of Co-operative Legal Services Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under registration number 567391.