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.
This guide has not been checked against its sources
We re-checked our most-read guides against GOV.UK and the other official sources in September 2026. This one was not among them, so nobody has confirmed its figures, deadlines or process steps since it was written. Treat it as a starting point and confirm anything that matters on GOV.UK before you act on it.
Sometimes. Lloyds does not publish a figure for personal accounts. Its bereavement page says only that the grant “may not” be needed and that “it will depend on the products and services held with us”, so the only reliable way to find out is to ask the bereavement team about the specific accounts. The single £50,000 figure Lloyds publishes appears on its business banking bereavement page, where it says it will usually only need to see the grant if the value of the accounts is more than £50,000. Do not assume that number applies to a personal current account or savings account.
Lloyds does not publish one for personal accounts. Its bereavement page explains what a Grant of Probate is and then says: “We may not need to see this — it will depend on the products and services held with us.” No balance is given. Bank thresholds are commercial decisions that each bank sets and changes at will, and Lloyds has chosen not to state its. Anyone quoting a figure for Lloyds personal accounts is guessing, and guessing in either direction is costly: applying for a grant you did not need wastes a fee and months, and assuming you do not need one stalls the estate.
The exception is business accounts. On its business banking bereavement page, Lloyds says it will “usually only need to see the Grant of Probate or equivalent document if the value of the accounts is more than £50,000”. That is a business banking figure and Lloyds does not repeat it for personal accounts.
Lloyds also says it will pass the death on to Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows, Clerical Medical, MBNA and Birmingham Midshires for you, so you do not need to contact those group brands separately. You do need to contact organisations outside Lloyds Banking Group yourself. For a full comparison of thresholds across all major UK banks, see our probate threshold guide for 2026–27.
Whether or not a grant is needed, Lloyds will ask for documentation to verify the death and your authority to act. This is standard practice and does not mean probate will be required.
In Scotland the equivalent document is confirmation rather than probate, and in Northern Ireland the application goes through the Probate Office of the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service. Lloyds' own bereavement page lists all three routes.
When notifying Lloyds of a bereavement, you should have the following ready:
Where Lloyds does ask for a grant, it will require the original Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration. Order several certified copies when the grant is issued — you will need them for other financial institutions, HMRC, and potentially the Land Registry.
Lloyds Bank offers dedicated bereavement support through the following channels:
On notification, Lloyds will freeze the deceased's accounts and cancel any standing orders and direct debits. This is standard procedure. Our guide on notifying banks after a death explains what to expect in detail.
Yes, Lloyds Bank is a member of the Death Notification Service (DNS). The DNS allows you to inform multiple financial institutions of a death in one step, saving you time and reducing the number of calls you need to make. After submitting a DNS notification, Lloyds will follow up with their own documentation requirements.
Yes, Lloyds participates in the Direct Payment Scheme (IHT423). If inheritance tax is owed on the estate, Lloyds can pay HMRC directly from the deceased's account before probate is granted — provided there are sufficient funds available.
You will need to complete HMRC form IHT423 and provide it to Lloyds along with the IHT400 account. This can help avoid the situation where you need to find funds to pay IHT before probate is issued. Read more about timing and costs in our guide on probate delays and IHT interest.
Lloyds does not publish a figure for how long it takes to release funds, and no official source does either, so this guide will not estimate one. Ask the bereavement team for their current timescale when you send the documents in.
Lloyds does publish timings for the surrounding steps: getting the legal document back from the Probate Registry “usually takes 8 to 16 weeks”, and administering an estate “can take 9 to 12 months” and sometimes longer.
Delays may occur if documentation is incomplete, if there are multiple executors, or if the estate includes complex investment products. Keep a record of all correspondence and follow up if you do not hear back within the expected timeframe. Our estate administration checklist can help you track progress across multiple institutions.
Lloyds does release smaller balances without a grant — that is what “we may not need to see this” means in practice — but it does not publish the balance at which it stops doing so, the form you will be asked to sign, or how long it takes. All three are worth asking about on the first call, because the answer decides whether you need to apply for a grant at all.
Bear in mind that even where Lloyds does not require probate, you may still need a Grant of Probate to deal with property or other assets held by the deceased. Our guide on when you don't need probate explores this in more detail.
For a full overview of the probate process, see our complete UK probate guide for 2026. If you are weighing up whether to apply yourself or instruct a solicitor, our DIY probate versus solicitor costs guide sets out the options. For inheritance tax questions, refer to our IHT guide for 2026–27.
Before you assume you need probate
Do you actually need a grant — and what would it cost?
A Lloyds Bank 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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