Quick Summary
- Scotland does not have "probate" — the equivalent is called Confirmation, and it is granted by the Sheriff Court, not a Probate Registry
- The magic number in Scotland is £36,000 — an estate of that value or less uses a simplified small-estate procedure the sheriff clerk helps you with for free; above it is a "large estate" that usually needs a solicitor
- The paperwork, the court, the fees and the inheritance rules all differ from England — but Inheritance Tax is UK-wide and identical on both sides of the border
- Dying without a will works very differently in Scotland — use our Scottish Intestacy Calculator to see who inherits under Scots law
If you have Googled "probate in Scotland" and found nothing that quite fits, that is because the word barely exists north of the border. The job is the same — proving you have the authority to wind up someone's estate — but Scotland calls it something else and runs it through a different court with different forms. This guide translates between the two systems.
Quick Answer: There is no probate in Scotland. The Scottish equivalent is Confirmation — a court document from the Sheriff Court (sitting as the Commissary Court) that authorises an executor to gather in a deceased person's assets, pay debts and distribute the estate. It does the same job as England's Grant of Probate (where there is a will) or Letters of Administration (where there isn't). Estates of £36,000 or less use a simplified procedure with no court fee; larger estates pay a fee and usually involve a solicitor. Inheritance Tax is UK-wide and works identically in both countries.
Same job, different name
An executor cannot simply walk into a bank with a death certificate and empty the deceased's account. Banks, share registrars and the Land Register need a court document proving the person asking has legal authority to act. In England that document is a Grant of Representation — either a Grant of Probate (if the deceased left a valid will naming an executor) or Letters of Administration (if they didn't). In Scotland the single document is called Confirmation, whether or not there was a will.
The vocabulary trips people up because the English terms leak everywhere — banks' bereavement teams, personal-finance sites, even some UK-wide legal firms default to "probate". If you are administering an estate in Scotland, the correct request is for Confirmation, and the correct court is the Sheriff Court for the area where the deceased last lived.
Confirmation vs probate at a glance
| Feature | Scotland — Confirmation | England & Wales — Probate |
|---|---|---|
| Name of the process | Confirmation | Grant of Probate (with a will) / Letters of Administration (no will) |
| Court / body | Sheriff Court (Commissary Department) | HMCTS Probate Registry |
| Person who applies | Executor-nominate (named in will) or executor-dative (court-appointed) | Executor (named in will) or Administrator (no will) |
| Core application form | C1 — Inventory of Estate | PA1P (with will) / PA1A (no will) |
| "Small estate" simplified route | Estate of £36,000 or less — sheriff clerk assists, no solicitor | No formal small-estate route; most banks release balances up to £5,000–£50,000 without a grant, at their discretion |
| Court fee | £0 up to £50,000; £351 (£50k–£250k); £705 (over £250k) | Flat £526 if the estate is over £5,000; no fee at or below £5,000 |
| Can you disinherit your children? | No — legal rights (legitim) give children a fixed share of moveable estate | Yes — full testamentary freedom |
| Inheritance Tax | UK-wide — identical rules | UK-wide — identical rules |
| Typical timescale | 3–9 months | 6–12 months |
Two of those rows are the ones that genuinely catch people out when they assume Scotland works like England: the £36,000 small-estate threshold and legal rights. The rest is mostly a matter of different names and forms.
The executor's role
In Scotland the person who winds up the estate is always called the executor (England uses "executor" only where there is a will, and "administrator" where there isn't). Scotland has two flavours:
- Executor-nominate — named in the will. They apply for Confirmation using the will as their authority. This is the straightforward case.
- Executor-dative — appointed by the court where there is no will, or where the named executor has died or won't act. Usually the surviving spouse, civil partner or nearest relative. This route is more involved and historically required a bond of caution (an insurance guarantee that the executor will administer the estate properly), which adds cost and time. A solicitor almost always handles executor-dative applications.
The executor's duties are the same in substance as an English personal representative's: identify and value everything the deceased owned, settle debts and taxes, apply for the court's authority, gather in the assets, and distribute what's left according to the will (or the intestacy rules).
Small estate vs large estate: the £36,000 line
This is the single most useful number to know. Scotland draws a hard line at £36,000:
- Small estate — £36,000 or less. You can use the simplified procedure. The sheriff clerk at your local Sheriff Court will help you prepare the inventory (the list of everything the deceased owned) and complete the forms, at no charge and without a solicitor. There is no court fee at this value.
- Large estate — over £36,000. You are on the standard track. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service is not permitted to help you fill in the forms for a large estate and will recommend you take legal advice. This is where most people instruct a solicitor.
One important quirk: the £36,000 is the gross value of the money and property that needs Confirmation — you do not deduct debts like the funeral bill, outstanding mortgage or utility arrears when working out whether you're under the line. Assets that pass automatically outside the estate — a house owned in joint names that passes by survivorship, or a life policy written in trust — don't count towards Confirmation at all, so an estate can sit under £36,000 for Confirmation purposes even when the deceased's total wealth was much higher.
England has no equivalent statutory small-estate procedure. Instead, individual banks and institutions each set their own "we'll release this without a grant" ceiling — anywhere from about £5,000 to £50,000 — so whether you need probate at all in England depends on which institutions hold the money and how much.
Before assuming you need Confirmation at all, list what actually requires it. Jointly-owned property, joint bank accounts and death-in-service or in-trust life cover usually pass without Confirmation. If what's left is under £36,000, the free small-estate route through the sheriff clerk can save you a solicitor's bill entirely.
The C1 form
Every Scottish Confirmation application starts with Form C1 — the Inventory of Estate. It lists everything the deceased owned that needs Confirmation: bank and building-society balances (including interest to the date of death), investments and shares, National Savings, any property, business interests and valuable personal possessions.
C1 is a dual-purpose form: it goes to the Sheriff Court and doubles as the inheritance-tax account read by HMRC. For deaths on or after 1 January 2022, the old supplementary form C5 is no longer needed for most estates — the C1 and the wider IHT reporting rules do the job. England's equivalent starting forms are the PA1P (where there is a will) or PA1A (intestate), submitted to the Probate Registry.
What it costs
Scotland and England both charge a court fee, but they are structured completely differently.
Scotland (Sheriff Court commissary fees, from 1 April 2026):
| Estate value (money + property) | Confirmation fee |
|---|---|
| £50,000 or less | No fee |
| Over £50,000, up to £250,000 | £351 |
| Over £250,000 | £705 |
Certified extract copies — the certificates banks and registrars want before they release funds — cost roughly £10 each on top, ordered at the time you lodge the inventory.
England & Wales: a flat £526 application fee where the estate is over £5,000, and nothing at or below £5,000 — regardless of how large the estate is. (This fee rose from £300 to £526 on 13 July 2026.)
The practical upshot: a mid-sized estate is often cheaper to confirm in Scotland (a £200,000 estate pays £351 versus England's £526), while a very large Scottish estate pays more in headline court fees (£705). Neither figure includes solicitors' fees, which dwarf the court fee on any estate that needs professional help — Scottish solicitors typically charge an hourly rate or 1–2% of the gross estate.
Try it yourself
No will? See exactly how a Scottish estate is divided between spouse, children and other relatives under prior rights, legal rights and the free estate.
Open Scottish Intestacy CalculatorNo sign-up required.
Where the two systems really diverge: legal rights
Court names and form numbers are just admin. The genuine, money-changing difference between Scotland and England is what happens to the estate itself — and it bites hardest on disinheritance.
In England you have full testamentary freedom: you can leave your entire estate to a cats' home and cut your children out completely (they can only challenge under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act, and only in limited circumstances).
Scotland does not allow that. Children — and, in some cases, grandchildren — have legal rights (historically called legitim) to a fixed share of the deceased's moveable estate (everything except land and buildings), and a will cannot override them. A surviving spouse or civil partner has legal rights too. In broad terms:
- If there are children but no surviving spouse, the children share one-half of the net moveable estate between them.
- If there is a surviving spouse and children, the spouse can claim one-third and the children share one-third of the net moveable estate (the remaining third is distributed under the will or the intestacy rules).
This is why a Scottish will that "leaves everything to my new spouse" can still be clawed at by children from a first marriage — they have an indefeasible claim to their legal-rights share. It is one of the most common cross-border surprises for families who assume Scots succession law mirrors England's.
Dying without a will in Scotland
Where there is no will, England applies its intestacy rules (a surviving spouse takes the first £322,000 plus a share of the rest). Scotland applies a distinctly different three-stage order to the whole estate:
- Prior rights — the surviving spouse or civil partner's first call: up to £473,000 for the dwelling house, £29,000 for its contents, and a cash sum (£50,000 if there are children, £89,000 if not).
- Legal rights — the fixed shares of moveable estate for spouse and children described above.
- The free estate — whatever remains, distributed down a statutory list of relatives.
The numbers and the running order are Scotland-specific, and they mean a modest estate can pass entirely to a surviving spouse under prior rights before children see anything — the opposite of what many people expect. Our calculator does the full waterfall for you.
Try it yourself
Work out who inherits a Scottish estate with no will — prior rights, legal rights and the free estate, in order.
Open Scottish Intestacy CalculatorNo sign-up required.
When you need a solicitor
You can handle Confirmation yourself, and for a small estate you usually should — the sheriff clerk's free help makes it very doable. Instruct a solicitor when:
- the estate is over £36,000 and includes heritable property (a house or land), because transferring title through the Land Register is conveyancing work;
- there is an Inheritance Tax bill to negotiate and time with HMRC;
- there is no will and an executor-dative appointment (and possibly a bond of caution) is needed;
- the will is disputed, or children are asserting legal rights;
- the estate is insolvent (debts exceed assets), which has its own strict order of priority.
Getting the wider money picture in order
Winding up an estate — or planning your own so your executor isn't left guessing — sits inside the bigger picture of UK personal finance.
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Inheritance Tax is the same on both sides of the border
One thing that does not change when you cross into Scotland is Inheritance Tax. IHT is a UK-wide, reserved tax — not devolved — so the same rules apply in Edinburgh as in Exeter:
- Nil-rate band: £325,000 per person (up to £650,000 for a married couple or civil partners using the transferable band).
- Residence nil-rate band: up to a further £175,000 where a home passes to direct descendants.
- Spousal exemption: unlimited transfers between spouses/civil partners.
And a change worth flagging for both countries: from 6 April 2027, most unused pension pots are expected to fall within the taxable estate for IHT — a significant shift for anyone relying on a pension passing outside the estate as a death benefit. See our Inheritance Tax in Scotland guide for the detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there such a thing as probate in Scotland?
Not by that name. Scotland's equivalent process is called Confirmation, granted by the Sheriff Court. If a bank or website asks you about "probate" for a Scottish estate, they mean Confirmation — the document does the same job of authorising the executor to deal with the assets.
What is the small-estate limit in Scotland?
£36,000. If the money and property requiring Confirmation totals £36,000 or less, you can use the simplified small-estate procedure, where the sheriff clerk helps you prepare the inventory for free and there is no court fee. Above £36,000 the estate is a "large estate" and usually needs a solicitor.
How much does Confirmation cost compared with probate?
Scottish Confirmation costs nothing up to £50,000, £351 from £50,000 to £250,000, and £705 above that (Sheriff Court fees from April 2026). England charges a flat £526 for any estate over £5,000. Solicitors' fees, where used, are separate and far larger than the court fee on either side.
Can I disinherit my children in a Scottish will?
No. Children have legal rights to a fixed share of your moveable estate that a will cannot remove — unlike England, where you have full freedom to leave your estate to anyone. This is the biggest practical difference between the two systems and a key reason to take advice on a Scottish will.
Does the executor have to be in Scotland?
No — an executor can live anywhere, including England or abroad. What matters is that the deceased's estate is administered under Scots law and the application for Confirmation goes to the Sheriff Court for where the deceased last lived. A non-Scottish executor of a Scottish estate follows the Scottish process, not the English one.
How long does Confirmation take?
For a simple estate with no property or IHT, 3–4 months is achievable; most estates settle in 3–9 months. Estates with property, an IHT bill or a dispute can run to 12–18 months. English probate typically takes 6–12 months, partly because of Probate Registry processing backlogs.
Related Articles
- Confirmation in Scotland: the full guide — the step-by-step process, inventory, IHT timing and small-estate route in depth
- Scottish Intestacy Calculator — who inherits when there's no will
- How to Write a Will in Scotland — getting your own affairs in order
- Inheritance Tax in Scotland — the UK-wide tax and the 2027 pension change
- Scottish Intestacy & Inheritance — prior rights, legal rights and the free estate explained
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Rules and figures can change — always verify current fees and thresholds with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, mygov.scot, or GOV.UK, and speak to a qualified solicitor for advice specific to your circumstances.
Sources: mygov.scot — Applying for confirmation when someone dies, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service — Small estates, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service — Large estates, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service — Sheriff Court fees, GOV.UK — Applying for probate: fees