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.
Not every asset a person owned at death automatically forms part of the "probate estate" — the pool of assets you, as executor, are responsible for collecting and distributing. Some assets bypass probate entirely, passing directly to named beneficiaries or surviving joint owners. This guide describes the position in England and Wales. Northern Ireland works in much the same way through the NI Probate Office; Scotland does not — the grant there is confirmation, obtained from the sheriff court, and Scottish succession law differs in other respects too, so check the Scottish Courts guidance if the death was in Scotland. Getting this distinction right matters both for completing the Grant of Probate application and for calculating Inheritance Tax accurately — since some assets that bypass probate can still count for IHT purposes. This guide works through every major asset type with a clear explanation of the probate and IHT treatment. For a full overview of the probate process, see our complete UK probate guide.
Before working through each asset type, it is important to understand the distinction between two different concepts:
This distinction matters particularly for jointly owned property, pensions, and life insurance. For context on IHT thresholds, see our guide to inheritance tax basics and our guide to the probate threshold for 2026–27.
These assets are solely owned by the deceased and form part of the probate estate. You need a Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration) before you can collect or transfer them.
A property registered in the deceased's name alone — or held as tenants in common with another person — requires probate before title can be transferred or the property sold. The value to declare is the open market value at the date of death.
For guidance on obtaining a probate property valuation, see our guide on valuing property for probate.
Any bank or building society account held in the deceased's sole name is part of the probate estate. Most banks will release small balances (typically under £5,000–£50,000 depending on the bank) without probate, but the legal position is that probate is required. Declare the balance at the date of death.
For a guide to collecting bank accounts after probate, see our guide on collecting bank accounts after probate.
Shares, ISAs, investment bonds, unit trusts, and other investments held in the deceased's sole name are probate assets. The value to declare is the "quarter up" value for shares (a specific HMRC calculation method), or the surrender value for investment bonds, at the date of death. For ISAs specifically, the ISA wrapper ceases to apply at death for IHT purposes — the balance counts as part of the IHT estate.
For guidance on share valuations, see our guide to valuing shares for probate.
All personal property — furniture, jewellery, vehicles, artwork, antiques, clothing, and household goods — is part of the probate estate. These must be valued at the date of death. For most everyday possessions, a reasonable written estimate is acceptable to HMRC. For valuable items (jewellery, art), a professional valuation from a specialist auctioneer or valuer is advisable.
For guidance on valuing household contents for probate, see our guide on valuing house contents for probate.
Any debts owed to the deceased at the date of death — for example, an informal loan to a family member, an unpaid salary, or a rental deposit — are assets of the estate and must be declared. The amount declared is the amount owed (at face value, unless there is good reason to believe it is unrecoverable).
A share in a business owned by the deceased — whether as a sole trader, as a partner, or as a shareholder in a private company — generally forms part of the probate estate. The valuation of business interests is complex. Business Property Relief (BPR) may reduce or eliminate the IHT on qualifying business assets, but BPR must be claimed on the IHT400 with supporting evidence. Partnership agreements sometimes include provisions for the partnership interest to pass directly without probate — check the agreement carefully.
These assets pass outside the probate estate — the executor typically has no direct role in their collection or distribution. However, some of them are still counted in the IHT estate.
Joint ownership comes in two forms with very different probate consequences:
For more detail on how joint bank accounts are treated, see our guide on what happens to a joint bank account when one owner dies.
Assets held in a trust during the deceased's lifetime — whether a bare trust, discretionary trust, or life interest trust — generally do not form part of the probate estate, since legal title is held by the trustees rather than the deceased. However, certain trusts (particularly life interest trusts created before 22 March 2006) count as part of the IHT estate.
Most pension death benefits are paid at somebody's discretion rather than under the will, which is what keeps them out of the probate estate. Who holds that discretion depends on the scheme, and it is not always trustees: in a trust-based occupational scheme or a master trust such as Nest it is the trustees; in a personal pension or SIPP the provider decides as scheme administrator; and in the statutory public service schemes (NHS, Teachers', Police, Armed Forces, Civil Service) there is no discretionary trust at all — the benefit is paid under scheme regulations and a valid nomination can bind the scheme. Pension death benefits are currently outside the IHT estate. For deaths on or after 6 April 2027 most unused pension funds come into it, and that is settled law rather than a proposal: the charge is in sections 66 to 71 of the Finance Act 2026, and HMRC's policy paper of 26 November 2025 makes personal representatives liable for reporting and paying it, while excluding all death in service benefits payable from a registered pension scheme and dependants' scheme pensions from a defined benefit or collective money purchase arrangement. See our guide on pensions and inheritance tax from 2027.
See also our guide on whether a pension goes through probate.
A life insurance policy that was written in trust during the policyholder's lifetime pays out to the trustees for the trust beneficiaries, bypassing probate and the deceased's IHT estate. It is not free of inheritance tax for ever: the trust that holds the proceeds has its own position, and most trusts hold "relevant property", which carries 10-yearly and exit charges. A policy can only be put in trust during the policyholder's lifetime — it is too late after death. A policy not written in trust forms part of the probate estate and the IHT estate. See our guide on life insurance and the estate.
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has its own rules. NS&I says it may ask for a grant of representation where the customer's total NS&I savings are £5,000 or over; below that it can usually release funds on a simple declaration. Premium Bonds cannot be transferred into another person's name — NS&I says they must be repaid first. They can stay in the monthly draw in the holder's name for 12 months after the date of death, and any prizes won in that period belong to the estate.
Physical cash — notes and coins — found at the deceased's home or premises is part of the probate estate and must be declared at its face value. The executor should collect and bank this cash into the estate account. For guidance, see our guide on cash found at home after death.
Stocks and shares ISAs and cash ISAs held in the deceased's sole name are part of the probate estate. While the ISA tax wrapper ceases to apply for IHT on the date of death, the surviving spouse or civil partner may be entitled to an "Additional Permitted Subscription" (APS) — a one-off ISA allowance equal to the value of the deceased's ISA — allowing them to maintain the tax-free status of those savings in their own ISA.
Cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.), PayPal balances, online gambling accounts with balances, and other digital assets with monetary value are part of the probate estate. They are often difficult to locate and value, and require careful handling to avoid losing access. See our guide on digital assets after death.
Property and financial assets held abroad may require a separate grant of probate (or its equivalent) in the relevant jurisdiction, as well as being declared in the UK IHT estate. The rules for foreign assets are complex and depend on the nature of the asset, where it is located, and any double tax treaties between the UK and the relevant country. Where an estate has substantial overseas assets, the practical step is to establish early which jurisdiction's process applies to each one, because a foreign grant can take longer than the UK one and the two run in parallel.
Consider the estate of a widow who has died with the following assets:
| Asset | Value | Probate estate? | IHT estate? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family home (sole ownership) | £350,000 | Yes | Yes |
| Sole bank account | £28,000 | Yes | Yes |
| Cash ISA | £15,000 | Yes | Yes |
| Personal pension (nominated beneficiary) | £80,000 | No | No for a death before 6 April 2027; yes for a death on or after it |
| Life insurance (written in trust) | £100,000 | No | No |
| Premium Bonds | £8,000 | Yes | Yes |
| Household contents | £5,000 | Yes | Yes |
In this example, on a death before 6 April 2027, the probate estate is £406,000 (home + bank + ISA + Premium Bonds + contents). The IHT estate is the same £406,000 — the pension and trust insurance bypass both. On a death on or after 6 April 2027 the £80,000 pension would be added to the IHT estate, taking it to £486,000, though it would still not pass through probate. With the nil-rate band at £325,000 and the RNRB potentially applicable if the home passes to a direct descendant (up to £175,000), IHT may be nil if the full RNRB is available.
Yes. Even though jointly owned assets (held as joint tenants) pass outside the probate estate, they are still counted in the IHT estate. HMRC form IHT404 is used to declare jointly owned assets on the IHT400. The deceased's own beneficial share is included in the IHT calculation — with two joint tenants that is normally half, and the IHT404 notes explain how to value a share in jointly owned land.
The ISA remains in place as a "continuing account of a deceased investor". GOV.UK puts it plainly: the ISA ends when the executor closes it or when the administration of the estate is completed, and otherwise the provider closes it 3 years and 1 day after the death. It is the completion of the administration that ends it, not the grant. No income tax or capital gains tax is due up to that date, but the ISA investments still form part of the estate for inheritance tax, and the surviving spouse or civil partner can claim an Additional Permitted Subscription to preserve the tax-free status in their own ISA.
The threshold above which banks require probate varies by institution (from around £5,000 to £50,000). There is no single legal probate threshold — it depends on the assets involved. For estates where all assets pass by survivorship and no institution requires probate, you may not need a grant at all. See our guide on whether you need probate.
Life insurance payouts are not subject to income tax or capital gains tax. However, if the policy was not written in trust, the payout forms part of the estate and is counted for inheritance tax. If it was written in trust it is outside the deceased's estate, though the trust holding it has its own inheritance tax position. See our guide on life insurance and the estate for probate.
Yes. Cryptocurrency is property and forms part of the estate. The challenge is that accessing and transferring digital assets often requires private keys or passwords that only the deceased held. Planning ahead (leaving access information in a secure location) is the best protection. Without access credentials, cryptocurrency may be permanently inaccessible.
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