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.
Start with the distinction that decides everything else, and which is routinely stated the wrong way round. In England and Wales an executor named in a will holds their authority from the will itself, from the moment of death; the Grant of Probate is evidence of that authority rather than the source of it. An administrator — appointed where there is no will, or where no executor is able or willing to act — has no authority whatsoever until the grant is issued.
So an executor can arrange and pay for the funeral, notify organisations of the death, value the estate and protect its assets. What an executor cannot do in practice is anything that requires third parties to see proof of title: banks will not release balances above their own limits, share registrars will not transfer holdings, and the Land Registry will not register a transfer of the property. Distribution has to wait until the debts and tax are settled.
The period between the death and the receipt of the Grant of Probate can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months. During this time, executors often feel uncertain about what they are permitted to do. This guide explains the legal position clearly, so you can act with confidence in the immediate aftermath of a bereavement.
The law recognises that some actions must be taken before a Grant of Probate is available — particularly around the funeral and immediate protection of assets. The following are generally permissible before the grant is received:
Without a Grant of Probate, you do not have the formal legal authority to deal with the deceased's assets. The following actions must wait until after the grant is received:
Funeral costs are often the most pressing financial issue in the immediate aftermath of a death. There are several mechanisms that can help:
Each bank sets its own limit — and most do not publish one:
If the total the deceased held with one institution is below that institution's own limit, it may release the money without a grant. There is no national threshold and no common figure: Santander and Barclays both publish £50,000, while HSBC, NatWest, Nationwide, Lloyds and TSB publish no figure at all and decide case by case. Ask each one.
There is an important legal distinction between taking informational or protective steps as executor before probate, and taking financial actions that constitute "intermeddling".
Informational and protective actions — notifying organisations, collecting paperwork, arranging valuations, securing property — are generally safe and expected of an executor acting diligently.
Dealing with the estate's assets as though you were already acting — collecting in money owed to the estate, selling or giving away possessions, paying general debts out of estate funds, or distributing to beneficiaries — is intermeddling. Once you have intermeddled you can no longer renounce, and you can be held liable as executor for what you have done.
Steps taken to preserve the estate from loss are not intermeddling — making an inventory, securing and insuring the property, obtaining valuations. Arranging the funeral is generally treated the same way, as an act of common humanity rather than as acting in the office, but no official source sets that out, and having the bank pay the funeral director from the deceased's account goes a step further. If there is any chance you will want to renounce, pay the funeral yourself and reclaim it from the estate later.
The practical significance: if you later decide you do not want to be executor, the ability to renounce using form PA15 depends on your not having intermeddled. Renouncing is not the only option — where there is more than one executor, one can instead have power reserved, which leaves the door open to acting later. Renunciation is final. If there is any chance you might want to step down, take only informational and protective steps until you have decided.
One less well-known aspect of executor authority is that, in England and Wales, a named executor has the right to bring or defend legal proceedings in their representative capacity even before the Grant of Probate is issued. This is known as the executor's "title by will" — the grant is confirmation of the appointment, not the source of it.
This means that if the estate has a claim that is time-sensitive (for example, a claim that might otherwise expire under the Limitation Act), you can take steps to protect that claim before probate is granted. Equally, if a claim is brought against the estate, you can respond in your representative capacity.
In practice, this situation arises rarely for most estates. But it is reassuring to know that the gap between death and probate does not leave the estate legally vulnerable if prompt action is needed. Note the limit of it: this is the executor's position. An administrator has no such standing before the grant.
Everything above describes the law of England and Wales. Scotland has a different system: the grant is called confirmation, it is applied for at the sheriff court, and where there is no will the court appoints an executor-dative rather than issuing letters of administration. Northern Ireland still calls the grant probate, but it is issued by the Probate Office of the High Court in Belfast under its own rules. Check the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service or nidirect for the position there rather than relying on this page.