Wills and Probate UK 2026 — A Complete Guide to Costs, Timelines and Tax

Updated April 2026 | Kaeltripton.com

Wills and probate is the area of UK personal finance with the biggest gap between what people assume and what actually happens. Many believe their spouse inherits everything automatically; that cohabiting partners have legal rights; that probate is always needed; that inheritance tax only affects the wealthy. None of these is reliably true.

This guide walks through the full lifecycle: writing your will, choosing executors, lasting powers of attorney, the probate process, inheritance tax thresholds and reliefs, costs, timelines, and what actually has to happen when someone dies.

The full lifecycle — what you need in place

• Valid will with two executors named and witnessed correctly
• Guardians named for minor children
• Lasting Powers of Attorney (both Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Welfare)
• Life insurance in trust (where relevant)
• Pension beneficiary nominations kept up to date
• Asset list for executors (banks, investments, property, insurance, digital)
• Record of debts (mortgages, loans, credit cards, outstanding bills)

Writing a valid UK will — the essentials

For a will to be valid in England and Wales under the Wills Act 1837:

• It must be in writing
• Signed by the testator (the person making the will), or by someone else in their presence and at their direction
• The testator's signature must be made or acknowledged in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time
• Each witness must then sign the will in the presence of the testator
• Witnesses cannot be beneficiaries or spouses of beneficiaries — if they are, the gift to them (or their spouse) fails

Intestacy rules — what happens without a will

If you die without a valid will in England and Wales, your estate is distributed under the Administration of Estates Act 1925 (as amended). Summary:

Statutory legacy increased from £270,000 to £322,000 from 26 July 2023 under the Administration of Estates Act 1925 (Fixed Net Sum) Order 2023. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate and different rules.

Lasting Powers of Attorney — what changed November 2025

Two separate LPAs exist under the Mental Capacity Act 2005:

• Property and Financial Affairs LPA. Lets your attorney manage your bank accounts, pay bills, buy/sell property, handle investments, on your behalf if you lose capacity (and, optionally, while you still have capacity if you want help).
• Health and Welfare LPA. Lets your attorney make decisions about your medical treatment, care home, daily routine and (if you give them authority) life-sustaining treatment.

Most people need both. From 17 November 2025, the Office of the Public Guardian registration fee increased from £82 to £92 per LPA — so registering both costs £184 total (source: gov.uk & OPG, August 2025).

Fee reduction is available: 50% reduction (£46 per LPA) for applicants with gross annual income under £12,000. Full exemption (£0) for applicants on certain means-tested benefits. From 2 February 2026, Universal Credit no longer automatically qualifies for a fee reduction. Check eligibility on gov.uk.

Current OPG processing time is approximately 20 weeks; a digital LPA service with much faster processing has been piloted and is being rolled out.

When is probate needed?

Probate (technically 'grant of probate' if there was a valid will, or 'letters of administration' if not) is the legal authority to deal with the deceased's estate. You usually need it when:

• The deceased owned property solely in their name
• Savings or investments in the deceased's sole name exceed a bank's threshold (varies by bank; many major UK banks now aligned at £50,000 — Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Santander, Nationwide)
• There are shares, bonds or investments held in the deceased's sole name

You usually do NOT need probate when:

• All assets were jointly owned and passed automatically to the survivor (joint tenants by survivorship)
• The estate is very small (all assets below each bank's threshold)
• Assets were held in trust and pass outside the probate estate

Probate costs — the real figures for 2026

Sources: gov.uk, The Gazette (Nov 2025), Octopus Legacy 2026 probate guide, NPS Law 2026 probate costs article. 'Help with Fees' scheme (form EX160) can reduce or waive the £300 application fee for low-income applicants.

Typical probate timeline

• Online application (straightforward estates): 4–8 weeks to grant
• Paper application or complex cases: 8–16 weeks to grant
• Full estate administration (grant to final distribution): usually 6–12 months; 18 months+ for complex estates

The executors' year. The 'executors' year' is the common-law guidance that executors should complete the estate administration within 12 months of death; beneficiaries can generally expect interest on overdue payments after that point. This is guidance, not a hard deadline.

Inheritance tax 2026 — what's changed

IHT rate remains at 40% on estate value above the nil-rate band. The thresholds for 2026/27 (confirmed in the Autumn Budget 2025 and frozen until April 2031):

• Nil-rate band (NRB): £325,000 per person. Frozen to April 2031.
• Residence nil-rate band (RNRB): £175,000 per person, when main home passes to direct descendants (children, stepchildren, grandchildren). Frozen to April 2031.
• Combined threshold for couples: Up to £1,000,000 — because unused NRB and RNRB transfer to the surviving spouse/civil partner.
• Spouse exemption: Unlimited. Assets passing between UK-domiciled spouses or civil partners are exempt from IHT.
• Charity rate: Leaving 10% or more of the net estate to charity reduces the IHT rate on the remainder from 40% to 36%.
• RNRB taper: Above an estate value of £2,000,000, the RNRB tapers by £1 for every £2. At estate value of £2,350,000 the RNRB is eliminated entirely (for a single-nil-rate-band estate).

Business Property Relief & Agricultural Property Relief — April 2026 reform

A significant change from April 2026 affects family businesses and farms. Before: BPR and APR offered 100% IHT relief on qualifying business/agricultural assets with no cap. From 6 April 2026:

• 100% relief limited to the first £1,000,000 of combined qualifying BPR/APR assets
• Relief drops to 50% for assets above £1m — effectively meaning 20% IHT applies to qualifying assets above the cap
• The £1m allowance is transferable between spouses and civil partners (announced in Autumn Budget 2025, softening the 2024 Budget position)
• The £1m allowance itself is frozen to April 2031, with CPI indexation from 2031

The 7-year rule and taper relief

Gifts made more than 7 years before death are fully exempt from IHT. For gifts within 7 years (above the annual £3,000 exemption and other small allowances):

Taper relief only applies to the tax on the gift, not to the gift value itself. It also only helps if the cumulative value of lifetime gifts exceeds the nil-rate band. Most small gifts are already exempt under the annual, small gifts, wedding and normal expenditure out of income exemptions.

The executor's practical checklist

If you're appointed executor, your practical duties include:

• Register the death and obtain the death certificate (multiple certified copies — typically 5–10 are needed for banks, insurers, Land Registry)
• Locate the will and take legal advice if any ambiguity
• Value the estate — all assets and debts at date of death
• Submit IHT return (IHT205 for excepted estates, IHT400 for taxable estates) to HMRC. IHT must usually be paid before the grant is issued — executors can use HMRC's Direct Payment Scheme from the deceased's bank accounts
• Apply for probate via gov.uk/applying-for-probate or paper form PA1P/PA1A. Application fee £300 plus £16 per extra sealed copy (from 17 Nov 2025)
• Place statutory notices (London Gazette around £80 + local paper). These protect executors from unknown creditor claims after 2 months
• Collect in the assets — close bank accounts, sell property, cash in investments
• Pay debts and any outstanding tax
• Prepare estate accounts for beneficiaries
• Distribute the estate according to the will (or intestacy rules)

What slows probate down

• Missing or damaged original will
• Disputes between beneficiaries or executors
• Incomplete information (missing asset details, unknown beneficiaries)
• Complex inheritance tax calculations — especially involving trusts, business property or overseas assets
• Delays from HMRC, banks, or the Probate Registry itself (average Registry processing has been variable in recent years)
• Property sales in a slow market

DIY probate vs solicitor — how to decide

DIY probate is reasonable when:

• There is a valid will and no disputes
• The estate is below the IHT threshold
• Assets are straightforward (home, savings, ISAs, pensions with named beneficiaries)
• No overseas assets, no trust arrangements, no business interests
• You have the time and organisation to handle 6–12 months of paperwork

Use a solicitor when:

• IHT is payable
• The estate includes business or agricultural property
• There's a trust involved (either existing or created by the will)
• Any disputes among beneficiaries
• Overseas assets or non-UK domicile issues
• You feel out of your depth — mistakes can lead to personal liability for executors

Banks' thresholds for releasing funds without probate

Each UK bank sets its own threshold at which they release funds without a grant of probate. As of 2026, most major UK banks have aligned at £50,000 (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Santander, Nationwide). Smaller banks and building societies vary from £5,000 to £50,000. Thresholds apply per institution, not to the total estate value.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always verify rates with official sources before making any financial decision.

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