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.
A Commonwealth grant can be re-sealed at an English Probate Registry under the Colonial Probates Act 1892. This gives it full legal effect in England and Wales without a separate UK probate application. UK IHT obligations still apply.
When a person dies with assets in both England and Wales and a Commonwealth country, there are two options for dealing with the English assets: applying for a full English Grant of Probate, or re-sealing the foreign Commonwealth grant. Re-sealing is usually faster and cheaper and is the preferred route when the deceased was domiciled abroad.
This guide explains the re-sealing process in England and Wales, which countries qualify, the application procedure, fees, UK IHT considerations, and practical steps.
Re-sealing in England and Wales is governed by the Colonial Probates Act 1892 (as amended), which allows the Senior Courts to seal grants made in listed Commonwealth countries. When re-sealed, the foreign grant has the same legal effect as if it had been made by an English court.
The process also works in reverse — an English grant can be re-sealed in most Commonwealth countries. For details on re-sealing an English grant abroad, see our guides on Australian assets, New Zealand assets, and Irish assets.
The Colonial Probates (Application of Act) Order lists the countries from which grants can be re-sealed in England and Wales. The list includes (but is not limited to):
Ireland does not appear on this list for historical reasons (it was removed after independence), but in practice a different legal basis is used for Irish grants. See our guide on Irish assets for more detail.
Non-Commonwealth countries are not on the list — for example, US, French, Spanish, German, or Italian grants cannot be re-sealed in England. A separate English Grant of Probate must be obtained in those cases.
The application to re-seal a Commonwealth grant is made to the England and Wales Probate Registry. The process involves:
The re-sealing process typically takes 4–8 weeks from submission, depending on the Probate Registry's current workload.
Re-sealing a foreign grant does not reduce UK IHT obligations. If the deceased was UK-domiciled, UK IHT applies to the worldwide estate. If the deceased was non-UK-domiciled, UK IHT applies only to UK-sited assets.
In either case, if the UK estate (or the UK-sited assets for a non-domiciliary) exceeds the threshold requiring an IHT400, this must be completed and submitted to HMRC. Any IHT due on UK assets must generally be paid before the Probate Registry will re-seal the grant.
See our UK IHT guide for current thresholds and rates, and our complete UK probate guide for the full probate process.
There are circumstances where it may be preferable to apply for a full UK Grant of Probate rather than re-sealing:
See our guide on applying for probate for the full UK probate application process.
For documents needed for UK probate, see what documents you need for probate.
For authenticating overseas documents for use in the UK, see our guide on obtaining an apostille for a foreign death certificate.
Related guides