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.
The figure published for Post Office savings is £30,000, not the £50,000 widely repeated elsewhere. Post Office savings accounts and ISAs are provided by Bank of Ireland UK, with the Post Office acting as an intermediary — and Bank of Ireland UK's own-brand accounts run on a different figure again, £50,000. So the first thing to establish is which of the two sets of terms the account falls under, because the answer changes whether a grant is needed at all.
£30,000 is the figure published for Post Office savings products. Post Office savings accounts, ISAs and savings bonds are provided by Bank of Ireland UK, and it is Bank of Ireland UK you deal with on a bereavement rather than the Post Office; the Post Office is a distribution partner only.
Do not confuse this with Bank of Ireland UK's own-brand accounts, which use a different figure: Bank of Ireland UK publishes £50,000 for the total value of accounts held with it, above which it needs a certified copy of the grant of probate or letters of administration. Establish which set of terms applies before you decide whether the estate needs a grant. For a comparison across UK institutions, see our probate threshold guide for 2026–27.
When notifying Post Office Savings (or Bank of Ireland UK) of a bereavement, you will typically need:
Above the threshold, a certified copy of the grant of probate or letters of administration will be required — a certificate of confirmation if the estate is being administered in Scotland. Request enough certified copies when the grant is issued to go round.
Because Post Office savings are provided by Bank of Ireland UK, the bereavement process is managed by Bank of Ireland UK's team:
On notification, the account will be frozen to prevent further transactions. Our guide on notifying banks after a death explains how to manage the process across multiple financial institutions.
Neither the Post Office nor Bank of Ireland UK says on its bereavement pages that it is a member of the Death Notification Service (DNS), so do not assume a DNS submission will reach either. Check the service's own member list, which changes, and tell them directly if they are not on it.
Neither the Post Office nor Bank of Ireland UK publishes whether these accounts can be used for the Direct Payment Scheme, and HMRC publishes no list of the banks and building societies that take part — so this can only be settled by asking when you first make contact. Where an institution does take part, the scheme lets inheritance tax be paid to HMRC straight from the account before the grant is issued, using HMRC's form IHT423.
For more on IHT timing and how to pay inheritance tax before probate, see our guide on probate delays and IHT interest.
Neither the Post Office nor Bank of Ireland UK publishes a timescale for releasing funds, and no official source publishes one. Any figure quoted elsewhere is an estimate rather than a commitment.
Our estate administration checklist will help you stay on top of multiple submissions and their timelines.
Below the threshold the accounts can be dealt with without a grant, on the death certificate plus the provider's own paperwork — for Bank of Ireland UK's own accounts that is the death certificate, the will where there is one, proof of your identity and an authorisation form. No timescale is published for this route either.
Even where probate is not required for the savings account, you may still need a Grant of Probate to deal with other parts of the estate. Our guide on when you don't need probate explains the triggers for requiring a formal grant.
For a comprehensive overview of UK probate, see our complete UK probate guide for 2026. If you are considering whether to manage probate yourself, our DIY probate versus solicitor costs guide compares the options. For inheritance tax queries, read our IHT guide for 2026–27.
Before you assume you need probate
Do you actually need a grant — and what would it cost?
A Post Office 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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