Guides

Do I need probate if the house was jointly owned?

If the home was held as joint tenants, it passes automatically and probate isn't needed for the property. Here's how to confirm, and when probate is still required.

Do I need probate for a small estate?

Estates under £5,000, or held entirely in joint accounts, often don't need probate. Here's how each bank decides and what you can do without a grant.

What happens if there's no will (intestacy) in the UK

If someone dies without a will in the UK, the intestacy rules decide who inherits. Here's the order, and where it differs in Scotland.

Probate and inheritance tax: what's changed

The probate fee is £300, most applications are now online, and pension pots come into inheritance tax from April 2027. What that means in practice.

Closing a bank account without probate

How to close a UK bank account after a death without a grant of probate: thresholds, the small estates form, and what each bank typically asks for.

Using Tell Us Once after a spouse or partner dies

Tell Us Once notifies HMRC, DWP, DVLA, Passport Office and your council in one go. What it does and doesn't change for the surviving spouse.

Bereavement Support Payment, who can claim, how much

Bereavement Support Payment is a one-off lump sum plus 18 monthly payments for surviving spouses, civil partners and (since 2023) cohabiting partners with children.

Funeral Expenses Payment, who qualifies and how much

Funeral Expenses Payment helps with the cost of a funeral if you're on a low income. Covers burial or cremation fees and up to £1,000 of other costs.

What to do in the first 24 hours after a death

A practical checklist for the first 24 hours after someone dies in the UK: getting the death verified, contacting a funeral director, and what NOT to do.

What to do when someone dies at home in the UK

Step-by-step for the first few hours when someone dies at home, expected or unexpected, with or without a doctor present.

Registering a death in Scotland, what's different

Scotland's death registration process: 8-day deadline, the NRS, where you can register, and how Confirmation differs from probate in England.

What to do when someone dies abroad

Registering the death locally, getting UK paperwork organisations will accept, repatriation versus a funeral overseas, and where the FCDO can help.

Overseas property or accounts in a UK estate

A UK grant of probate usually stops at the border. How foreign homes, bank accounts and shares are dealt with, and how double-tax relief works.

When an estate has more debts than money

An insolvent estate has a strict legal order for paying debts. Pay the wrong creditor first and the executor can be personally liable. Here's the order.

What to do if you can't find the will

Where wills are actually stored, how to run a National Will Register search, and what happens to the estate if no will is ever found.

When a death is reported to the coroner

Why deaths get referred, how an interim certificate lets you carry on, and what an inquest means for registering the death and applying for probate.

Being executor when the will is contested

What a challenge to a will actually stops, the deadlines that matter, how a caveat works, and how an executor stays neutral and protected.

How long death admin really takes

The realistic shape of UK death admin: how many organisations get told, what each step takes, where people get stuck, and the order that works best.

Empty property after a death: costs, tax and selling

What an inherited empty home costs each month, how council tax and capital gains work, the ways to sell it, and the small jobs that get you more for it.