How to Apply for Confirmation in Scotland: Step-by-Step Guide

Overview of the Scottish Confirmation Process

Applying for confirmation in Scotland follows a similar broad structure to applying for probate in England — value the estate, deal with inheritance tax, apply to the relevant authority for the official document — but the specifics differ in several important ways.

The application is made to the Sheriff Clerk of the Sheriff Court in the sheriffdom where the deceased was domiciled at the time of death. For an overview of what confirmation is and how it differs from English probate, see our guide on what is confirmation.

Step 1: Register the Death

In Scotland, deaths must be registered within 8 days (longer than the 5-day requirement in England and Wales). Registration is done at the local registrar's office. For a full guide to this process, see our guide on registering a death in Scotland. Order multiple copies of the death certificate — you will need them for banks, institutions, and the confirmation application.

Step 2: Locate the Will

Check the deceased's papers and safe for the original will. Scottish wills may also be registered with the Books of Council and Session (the official register of Scottish deeds). You can search this register online via the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. If the deceased used a Scottish solicitor, they may hold the original.

If there is no will, the estate is distributed under the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964, which provides different rules from English intestacy. See our guide on intestacy rules in Scotland, and for the no-will executor application, our guide on executor-dative in Scotland.

Step 3: Value the Estate

Obtain valuations for all estate assets — property, bank accounts, investments, vehicles, personal possessions. The inventory you prepare will list each asset with its date-of-death value. This inventory becomes the foundation of the confirmation application and also feeds into the inheritance tax calculations.

Also identify all liabilities: mortgages, loans, credit cards, and other debts. These are deducted from the gross estate value to give the net estate for IHT purposes.

Step 4: Inheritance Tax

IHT rules are identical in Scotland to England and Wales — a UK-wide tax. For the current thresholds and rules, see our inheritance tax guide for 2026–27.

If the estate exceeds the IHT threshold (broadly £325,000 plus residence nil rate band where applicable), or if the estate includes gifts made in the 7 years before death, Form IHT400 must be submitted to HMRC before confirmation is granted. You will need to obtain an IHT reference number and pay any IHT due before the Sheriff Clerk will issue confirmation.

For IHT-exempt estates (those below the threshold with no chargeable gifts), you complete Form C1 (the Scottish inventory form) which serves as both the estate inventory and the confirmation application.

For more detail on IHT in a Scottish context, see our guide on IHT in Scotland.

Step 5: Submit the Application to the Sheriff Clerk

The confirmation application is submitted to the Sheriff Clerk. For most straightforward estates, the documents required are:

• Completed Form C1 (the inventory of the estate) — for IHT-exempt estates. For IHT-paying estates, a different set of forms is required reflecting the IHT400 submission.
• The original will (if any)
• The death certificate (original or official copy)
• IHT clearance documents (for taxable estates)
• The Sheriff Court fee

See our guide on the Sheriff Clerk and confirmation registry for more on how the application is processed. For information on what supporting documents you will need to gather, see our guide on probate documents.

Step 6: Receive Confirmation and Administer the Estate

Once confirmation is issued, the executor has legal authority to deal with the estate — closing bank accounts, selling or transferring property, collecting investments, paying debts, and distributing to beneficiaries.

The confirmation is issued with an inventory of the estate's assets. Scottish banks and institutions generally only release assets if the specific asset is listed on the confirmation — so all assets must be identified and listed before the application is submitted. This is sometimes called "docketing" (adding an asset to the inventory after confirmation is issued), which requires a separate step if an asset is discovered later.

For a full administration checklist, see our estate administration checklist.

Costs

Sheriff Court confirmation fees are:

• No fee for estates under £50,000
• £264 for estates between £50,000 and £250,000
• £504 for estates over £250,000

Additional costs include death certificate copies, professional valuations, any solicitor's fees (if instructed), and IHT payments. For a comparison of DIY vs professional administration costs, see our guide on DIY probate vs solicitor costs.

Further Reading

• Scottish confirmation threshold
• Small estate procedure in Scotland
• Death Notification Service
• Notifying banks after a death in Scotland

Farra helps executors and families navigate the estate administration process wherever they are in the UK.