Wills Probate and Power of Attorney UK 2026

The three instruments at a glance

Estate planning in England and Wales is built on three legal instruments that each govern a different, non-overlapping window of a person's life. A lasting power of attorney (LPA) operates while a person is alive but has lost, or may lose, the mental capacity to make their own decisions. A will operates from the moment of death, setting out who inherits and who administers the estate. Probate is the court process that converts the authority named in a will, or the entitlement of the next of kin where there is no will, into a legal grant that banks, registries, and other institutions will accept.

The conceptual arc runs in order: LPA covers loss of capacity during life, death ends the LPA, the will then takes over, and probate gives the executors the document they need to act. A person who plans only one of the three leaves a gap. Someone with a will but no LPA has nothing in place if they lose capacity before death, and their family may have to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship instead (Office of the Public Guardian, gov.uk, accessed June 2026). Someone with an LPA but no will dies intestate, and the rules in the Administration of Estates Act 1925 decide who inherits regardless of their wishes (legislation.gov.uk). Because the three instruments connect, any UK adult planning ahead benefits from considering all three together rather than treating them as separate, unrelated errands.

At a glance: LPA, wills, and probate

Pillar 1: Lasting Power of Attorney

A lasting power of attorney is a legal document that lets a person, the donor, appoint one or more attorneys to make decisions for them if they lose the mental capacity to make those decisions themselves. LPAs were created by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and replaced the older enduring power of attorney for new documents from October 2007 (Mental Capacity Act 2005, legislation.gov.uk). There are two separate types, and a person can make one or both.

The LPA for property and financial affairs covers decisions about money, bank accounts, paying bills, collecting income and benefits, and buying or selling property. It can be used as soon as it is registered, with the donor's permission, or kept until capacity is lost. The LPA for health and welfare covers decisions about medical care, daily routine, where the donor lives, and, if specifically authorised, life-sustaining treatment. This second type can only be used once the donor has lost capacity to make the decision in question (Office of the Public Guardian, gov.uk, accessed June 2026).

An LPA only has legal effect once it is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. The registration fee is £92 per LPA, with a 50 percent reduction where the donor's income is below £12,000 a year and a full exemption where the donor receives certain means-tested benefits (Office of the Public Guardian, gov.uk, accessed June 2026). Attorneys must act within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, including acting in the donor's best interests and following any instructions and preferences recorded in the document. An LPA ends automatically on the death of the donor, at which point the will and probate take over.

Deeper LPA guides in this hub:

• LPA for property and financial affairs
• LPA for health and welfare
• How to register a lasting power of attorney
• Lasting power of attorney cost
• Revoking a lasting power of attorney
• LPA vs deputyship
• LPA certificate provider
• LPA rejections and common mistakes

Pillar 2: Wills

A will is a legal document that sets out how a person's estate should be distributed after death, who should carry out those wishes as executor, and, where relevant, who should care for any children under 18. The formal requirements for a valid will in England and Wales come from section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 (legislation.gov.uk). The will must be in writing, signed by the testator (or by another person in the testator's presence and at their direction), and that signature must be made or acknowledged in the presence of two witnesses present at the same time, each of whom then signs the will.

Witnesses, and the spouses or civil partners of witnesses, must not be beneficiaries. Under section 15 of the Wills Act 1837, a gift to a witness or to a witness's spouse is void, although the will itself remains valid (legislation.gov.uk). This is one of the most common drafting errors in homemade wills. Other frequent problems include leaving no residuary clause to catch assets not specifically mentioned, ambiguous wording about who receives what, and failing to update the will after marriage, divorce, or the birth of children. Marriage automatically revokes an existing will in most cases unless the will was made in contemplation of that marriage.

Where a person dies without a valid will, they die intestate, and the statutory order in the Administration of Estates Act 1925 decides who inherits. A surviving spouse or civil partner receives the personal possessions, a statutory legacy of £322,000, and half of anything above that, with the remaining half passing to the children (The Administration of Estates Act 1925 (Fixed Net Sum) Order 2023, legislation.gov.uk). Unmarried partners and stepchildren have no automatic entitlement under intestacy, which is why a will matters for anyone whose wishes differ from this default.

Deeper wills guides in this hub:

• How to write a will
• Will writing cost
• DIY wills: risks and rules
• Mirror wills
• Updating a will and codicils
• Witness requirements for wills
• Intestacy rules
• Inheritance tax and wills

Pillar 3: Probate

Probate is the legal process that confirms who has authority to deal with a deceased person's estate. Where there is a valid will naming an executor, that executor applies for a grant of probate. Where there is no valid will, or no willing executor, the next of kin applies for letters of administration instead, and the person who takes on the role is called an administrator (Administration of Estates Act 1925 and Senior Courts Act 1981, legislation.gov.uk). The two grants do the same job: they give the personal representative a court-sealed document that banks, the Land Registry, and other institutions accept as proof of authority to release and transfer assets.

The application is made to HM Courts and Tribunals Service, online or on paper. The fee is £300 for estates valued above £5,000, and there is no fee for estates at or below £5,000 (HM Courts and Tribunals Service, gov.uk, accessed June 2026). Additional sealed copies of the grant, which let the personal representative deal with several institutions at once, cost £16 each. Probate and inheritance tax are linked. Before a grant can be issued for an estate that owes inheritance tax, the personal representative must report the estate to HMRC, and for estates that are not excepted this means submitting a full account on form IHT400 and waiting 20 working days before applying for the grant (gov.uk, accessed June 2026).

Not every estate needs probate. Small estates, jointly owned assets passing by survivorship, and assets below the thresholds set by individual banks can sometimes be released without a grant. Where probate is required, the personal representative is responsible for collecting the assets, paying debts and any tax, and distributing what remains according to the will or the intestacy rules.

Deeper probate guides in this hub:

• How to apply for probate
• Probate fees
• Letters of administration
• Probate timeline
• Probate without a will
• Grant of probate vs letters of administration
• Selling property in probate
• Inheritance tax and probate

Key figures for 2026

Editorial verdict: sequencing your estate planning

There is no single correct route through estate planning, but there is a logic to the sequence. Many people deal with the lasting power of attorney and the will in a single sitting, because both ask the same underlying questions about who they trust and what they want to happen. Setting up an LPA for property and financial affairs, an LPA for health and welfare, and a will together means the person who would act for the donor during incapacity and the person who would act as executor after death can be chosen in one considered decision rather than three separate ones.

A common framework is to handle the simple parts directly and bring in a solicitor where complexity appears. The government provides an online service to make and register an LPA, and HM Courts and Tribunals Service runs an online probate application, so the procedural steps are accessible without professional help for straightforward cases (gov.uk, accessed June 2026). Money Helper, the government-backed guidance service, sets out where free or low-cost routes exist (moneyhelper.org.uk, accessed June 2026). The cost trade-off is real: registering two LPAs and applying for probate involves fixed statutory fees, while solicitor fees for drafting and administration are charged on top and vary by firm.

Complexity factors push toward professional advice. Multiple properties, business interests, blended families, assets outside the UK, trusts, and any likely inheritance tax liability all raise the stakes of getting the documents wrong. The cost of doing nothing is also a factor. Dying without a will hands distribution to the intestacy rules, losing capacity without an LPA can force a Court of Protection deputyship application that is slower and more expensive than an LPA, and unclear or invalid documents are a frequent source of family disputes. The objective is to match the route to the complexity, not to assume that either the do-it-yourself path or the solicitor path is right for everyone.

All guides in this hub

FAQ: wills, probate, and power of attorney

Do I need a will if I already have a lasting power of attorney?

A lasting power of attorney and a will cover different windows of life. An LPA authorises attorneys to act during the donor's lifetime and it ends on death (Office of the Public Guardian, gov.uk, accessed June 2026). A will only takes effect on death, directing how the estate passes and naming executors (Wills Act 1837, legislation.gov.uk). Holding one does not remove the need for the other. A person who loses capacity without an LPA may need a deputy appointed by the Court of Protection, and a person who dies without a will is subject to the intestacy rules (gov.uk, accessed June 2026).

When does a lasting power of attorney stop and probate begin?

An LPA operates while the donor is alive and ceases automatically at the moment of death (Office of the Public Guardian, gov.uk, accessed June 2026). From that point the attorney has no further authority. Control passes to the executor named in the will, or to an administrator under the intestacy rules where there is no will (Administration of Estates Act 1925, legislation.gov.uk). The executor or administrator usually applies to HM Courts and Tribunals Service for a grant of probate or letters of administration before dealing with the estate (gov.uk, accessed June 2026).

Can the same person be my attorney and my executor?

Yes. The same individual may be appointed as an attorney under a lasting power of attorney and named as an executor in a will, because the two roles operate at different times (Office of the Public Guardian and Wills Act 1837, accessed June 2026). The attorney role ends at death and the executor role begins at death, so there is no overlap of authority. Many people appoint the same trusted relative to both roles, although the appointments are made in separate documents under separate legal frameworks.

What happens if I die without a will in England or Wales?

When a person dies without a valid will in England or Wales, the intestacy rules in the Administration of Estates Act 1925 decide who inherits (legislation.gov.uk, accessed June 2026). A surviving spouse or civil partner receives the personal possessions, a statutory legacy of £322,000, and half of the remainder, with the other half passing to the children (The Administration of Estates Act 1925 (Fixed Net Sum) Order 2023, legislation.gov.uk). Unmarried partners inherit nothing under intestacy. The next of kin must apply for letters of administration to deal with the estate (gov.uk, accessed June 2026).

How much does the full estate planning process cost in 2026?

Costs vary with route and complexity. Registering each lasting power of attorney with the Office of the Public Guardian costs £92, with a 50 percent reduction where the donor's income is below £12,000 and exemption on certain means-tested benefits (Office of the Public Guardian, gov.uk, accessed June 2026). The probate application fee is £300 for estates over £5,000 and nothing for estates at or below £5,000 (HM Courts and Tribunals Service, gov.uk, accessed June 2026). Solicitor fees for will drafting, LPAs, and estate administration are charged separately and are not fixed by statute.

What is the difference between a lasting power of attorney and a deputyship?

A lasting power of attorney is set up in advance by a person who still has mental capacity, naming the attorneys they choose (Mental Capacity Act 2005, legislation.gov.uk). A deputyship is ordered by the Court of Protection after capacity has already been lost and no valid LPA exists (gov.uk, accessed June 2026). Deputyship involves an application to the court, ongoing supervision by the Office of the Public Guardian, and higher costs. An LPA made while capacity remains avoids the need for a deputy.

Are lasting powers of attorney made in England and Wales valid in Scotland and Northern Ireland?

No. A lasting power of attorney made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 applies in England and Wales (legislation.gov.uk). Scotland has its own continuing and welfare powers of attorney registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland), and Northern Ireland operates enduring powers of attorney under separate rules (gov.uk, accessed June 2026). A person with assets or residence across the UK nations should check the requirements of each jurisdiction. The probate and intestacy positions described in this hub apply to England and Wales.

How long does probate take in 2026?

GOV.UK guidance states a probate application can take up to 12 weeks to process where there is no delay in receiving documents, and longer where information is missing (gov.uk, accessed June 2026). Where inheritance tax is due, the estate must submit form IHT400 to HMRC and wait 20 working days before applying for the grant, which extends the overall timeline (gov.uk, accessed June 2026). Disputes, missing original wills, or stopped applications can add further months to the process.

When should a solicitor be involved rather than using the online services?

Online services exist for both LPAs and probate, but certain circumstances point toward professional advice. The government provides an online tool to make and register an LPA and an online probate application, and Money Helper sets out the available routes (gov.uk and Money Helper, accessed June 2026). Factors such as multiple properties, business interests, blended families, assets outside the UK, trusts, or a likely inheritance tax liability add complexity. The Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority maintain registers of authorised solicitors for those who choose professional help.