Probate Checklist for England and Wales: An Executor's Guide

When someone dies and the will names you as executor, the paperwork can feel endless at first. This probate checklist for England and Wales sets out what the role involves, which route applies, the legal time limits and the usual order of the work, so you can see the whole job before you start.

What an executor does in England and Wales

An executor is the person named in a will to deal with the estate. If there is no will, or no executor is able to act, the closest living relative can usually apply instead as administrator. Both are personal representatives.

Authority comes from a grant of representation issued by the Probate Service, part of HM Courts and Tribunals Service: a grant of probate with a will, or letters of administration without one. With it you collect what the person owned, pay what they owed, keep records and pass the rest to the people entitled to it, keeping estate money apart from your own.

Route check: grant or no grant, and which Inheritance Tax route

Not every estate needs probate. Where the person only had savings, or owned money, shares or land jointly as joint tenants, assets may pass without a grant. Each bank or institution decides whether it will release funds without one.

Where a grant is needed, you value the estate first and work out the Inheritance Tax route:

• Excepted estate. Usually the estate is below the £325,000 threshold, or worth £650,000 or less with unused threshold transferred from a spouse or civil partner who died first, or left to a UK-resident spouse, civil partner or qualifying charity and worth less than £3 million. For deaths on or after 1 January 2022, you report the estimated value in the probate application.
• Full account on IHT400. Needed where tax is due or full details are required, for example gifts over £250,000 in the 7 years before death. IHT400 goes to HMRC before you apply.

Key legal deadlines

For a death in January, any Inheritance Tax is due by 31 July, and HMRC charges interest after that. Claims under the 1975 Act can be brought later only with the court's permission, which is why many executors hold the final distribution until six months after the grant.

Your probate checklist for England and Wales, step by step

1. Register the death and use Tell Us Once. The registrar offers this service, which tells HMRC, DWP, HM Passport Office, DVLA and the local council. The reference number must be used within 28 days.
2. Find the will and confirm who can act.
3. List assets and debts. Banks, insurers, private and workplace pension schemes, utilities and landlords are not covered by Tell Us Once, so you contact them yourself.
4. Deal with Inheritance Tax. Usually some tax must be paid before the grant is issued.
5. Apply for the grant online or by post through GOV.UK.
6. Collect the assets. Send copies of the grant to banks, pension providers, investment managers and HM Land Registry. Extra official copies cost less when ordered with the application.
7. Advertise for creditors and pay debts. A Deceased Estates notice in The Gazette, plus a local newspaper where there is land, protects you against unknown claims once the period ends.
8. Prepare estate accounts and distribute to the beneficiaries.

Taxes and fees at a high level

Inheritance Tax is charged at 40% above the threshold, or 36% on some assets where 10% or more of the net estate goes to charity. The residence nil-rate band can add up to £175,000 when a home goes to children or grandchildren, taking the threshold to £500,000. For deaths on or after 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds count towards the estate for Inheritance Tax.

The probate application fee applies to estates over £5,000; check the current amount on GOV.UK, where form EX160 for help with fees is also available. You also deal with the deceased's income tax up to the date of death and tax on estate income afterwards.

When to get professional help

A solicitor is not legally required: executors and administrators can apply themselves. Advice is often worth having where the estate may be insolvent, a 1975 Act claim is threatened, the will is disputed or unclear, or there is foreign property, a business, a farm or a trust. Personal representatives can be personally liable for losses caused by mistakes.

The Steady Executor England and Wales kit contains five files: a user guide with the process, deadlines, steps and a final checklist; an Excel executor workbook that calculates legal deadlines from your dates and records assets, debts, the estate account and distributions; financial letters for banks, insurers, pension providers, creditors and investment firms; services and agencies letters for utilities, landlords, employers and government organisations; and beneficiary letters with a receipt form.

Sources

• Applying for probate (GOV.UK)
• Probate fees (GOV.UK)
• Check if you need to send full details of the estate (GOV.UK)
• Pay your Inheritance Tax bill (GOV.UK)
• Tell Us Once (GOV.UK)
• Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, s.16
• Trustee Act 1925, s.27
• Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, s.4