Farra is a death administration assistant for UK families. Get step-by-step guidance for registering a death, applying for probate, notifying banks, and managing bereavement admin. From essential documents to practical checklists, Farra simplifies estate paperwork and funeral-related tasks so you can focus on what matters.
Aegon publishes no probate threshold — and, equally important, it does not say anywhere that a grant is always needed. Its bereavement page sets out what to send and then says its team will be in touch to tell you the next steps. So the honest answer to “does Aegon require probate?” is: it depends on what was held and how much, and Aegon will tell you once it has the notification. Do not apply for a grant on the strength of a figure or a rule you have read on a website, including this one.
Pension death benefits are a separate matter: they are paid at the scheme's discretion and do not form part of the estate, so a grant is not what releases them.
No. Aegon is a Dutch-headquartered insurance and pensions group with a large UK pensions and platform business run out of Edinburgh. It publishes no small-estate threshold and no blanket rule that a grant of probate is always needed. What it publishes is a process: tell us, send the original death certificate, and our team will be in touch with the next steps.
What the product type changes:
Aegon's UK business is based in Edinburgh, but that does not decide which court you apply to. That follows where the person who died was domiciled: England and Wales means a grant of probate or letters of administration; Scotland means a confirmation from the sheriff court; Northern Ireland has its own Probate Office. See how Aegon compares to other providers in our probate threshold guide for 2026–27.
The estate administration checklist helps you manage documents across all institutions.
Aegon does not publish one bereavement number covering everything, so a number quoted elsewhere as “the Aegon bereavement line” may belong to a different product or may not be current. Use the search on Aegon's own page. This is one of the key steps in notifying financial institutions after a death. Aegon says it will stop all marketing communications about the policy once it has been told.
Aegon does not currently participate in the Death Notification Service (DNS). You must contact Aegon directly — the DNS cannot be used to notify them of the death. As an investment platform and insurer, Aegon maintains its own bereavement process separate from the DNS banking network.
Aegon does not publish whether it accepts form IHT423, the Direct Payment Scheme form that lets a bank, building society or NS&I pay inheritance tax direct to HMRC before the grant is issued. Ask the team the search box gives you rather than assuming either way. Our guide on probate delays and IHT interest covers how to manage this.
Aegon answers this itself, and the answer is that it will not say: “Unfortunately we're unable to provide specific timeframes during this process, as each case is different, we review on a case by case basis.” The “4 to 8 weeks” and “9 to 14 months” that used to sit here were not Aegon's figures and have been removed.
For the full step-by-step timeline of the part you do control — the grant application — see the complete UK probate guide for 2026.
Aegon pension death benefits — from workplace pensions, personal pensions, SIPPs and drawdown arrangements — do not form part of the estate. They are paid at the scheme's discretion to the beneficiaries, guided by any nomination the person left, and no grant is needed to release them. Most unused pension funds are outside inheritance tax at present, but the government has confirmed they come within the charge from 6 April 2027.
Investment accounts do form part of the estate, and whether Aegon asks for a grant is decided case by case. If you are unsure which type of account the person held, say so when you notify Aegon — it says it can search for the policy without a reference number. For guidance on pension claims, see our pension death benefit guide. For what each route to administering an estate involves, see our DIY probate versus solicitor comparison.
Before you assume you need probate
Do you actually need a grant — and what would it cost?
A Aegon balance is only part of the picture. Whether the estate needs probate at all depends on the whole picture — property, other accounts, and how everything was owned — not a single threshold. It is worth checking before you start filling in forms.
Guide reviewed July 2026. Bank thresholds change and can vary by account type — always confirm the current figure with the provider before relying on it.
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