Get Confirmation right the first time with expert support

Getting Confirmation, the Scottish equivalent of probate, to manage a deceased person's estate can be incredibly tricky. We guide you step by step, so you can get Confirmation quickly and keep more of the estate for who it was intended for.

Dealing with an estate in England or Wales? Click here

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Why use My Probate Partner?

Don’t spend months going back and forth with the Court. Our experts guide you through every step so you can get Confirmation right the first time. Our fixed-fee service allows you to keep more of the estate for the beneficiaries by avoiding solicitor fees that may be unnecessary.

What we help with

Prepare and check your application

We walk you through the C1 and any inheritance‑tax forms, provide templates and instructions, and review your forms so they meet the Court’s strict standards and avoid rejections.

Collect the right documents and value assets

We guide you on gathering everything needed, from death certificates and Wills to valuations of bank accounts and property; if an independent valuation or conveyancing is required, we put you in touch with trusted partners.

Get your submission right

Whether it’s your first application or a resubmission, we help you assemble a complete application pack and personalised cover letter for the Sheriff Court. You’ll submit the documents yourself, but we’re on hand to answer questions, fix issues and keep things moving if the court asks for amendments.

Why people trust us

We've helped thousands navigate Scottish Confirmation. The results are clear and measurable across every metric that matters.

£250m+

The value of estates we have supported

100%

Our success rate. Over 97% on the first try

50-80%*

Your success rate on the first try, when using a Solicitor

5%

Your chance of approval without support

* Results from a 2019 survey conducted with Scottish lawyers.

 

Who we are

We’re a small, Scotland‑based team of probate specialists. You’ll see the same names throughout your journey. Our founder Mike, a qualified Law Accountant, specialises in probate work. Our case managers have decades of experience in Scottish law firms dealing with Confirmation and estate administration. We’re committed to guide you practically and clearly, not to sell you services you don’t need.

Find out more about our new way of doing things →

Have a quick, free chat with

one of our Confirmation experts

In less than 15 minutes we can help you understand if you need Confirmation, likely costs and timelines and if you'd be better off using a full lawyer service due to any complexities.

Join the hundreds of executors in Scotland that have already used our Confirmation support service and been accepted first time.

How to complete the probate process

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Check if you need probate

Probate is needed in around 50% of deaths in Scotland.
You might not need it if:

  • No companies need to see it and there’s no property
  • Everything is in joint names with someone who is still alive
Check if you need probate →
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Check if you need probate

A grant is needed in around 50% of deaths in Scotland.
You might not need it if:

  • No companies need to see it and there’s no property
  • Everything is in joint names with someone who is still alive.
Check if you need probate →
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Figure out how much the estate is worth

You’ll need to find out the value of any accounts, property, or other assets the person had on the day they died.

If you don’t want to do this yourself, we recommend Settld, who’ll contact all the financial organisations for you to get all the information you need, free of charge. 

Some companies take a few days to provide this information; the worst ones can take a few months.

Find out more about valuing the estate →
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Figure out how much the estate is worth

You’ll need to find out the value of any accounts, property, or other assets the person had on the day they died. 

If you don’t want to do this yourself, we’ve teamed up with Settld, who’ll contact all the financial organisations for you to get all the information you need, free of charge. 

Some companies take a few days to provide this information; the worst ones can take a few months.

Found out more about valuing the estate →
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Get help applying for the
‘Grant of Confirmation’

If you need to do this step, you’ll have to send a C1 form into the local Sheriff Court; there are situations when you may also need to submit a tax form. The smaller courts usually take 1 to 14 days to process your application. Edinburgh and Glasgow can take as long as 12 weeks. If there’s no Will, there is an extra court process required first.

Our 5-star support service is specially designed to make sure you get this step 100% right, with or without a Will.

Find your best route to Confirmation →
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Apply for the
‘Grant of Confirmation’

If you need to do this step, you’ll have to send a C1 form into the local Sheriff Court; there are situations when you may also need to submit a tax form. The smaller courts usually take 1 to 14 days to process your application. Edinburgh and Glasgow can take as long as 12 weeks. If there’s no Will, there is an extra court process required first.

Our 5-star support service is specially designed to make sure you get this step 100% right.

Find your best route to Confirmation →
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Close down the estate

This can involve closing accounts, selling or transferring any property, paying out people’s inheritance, and tying off any loose ends.

Use our Estate Completion Checklist to make sure you’ve done everything and fulfilled your responsibilities as the executor of the estate. This might sound scary, but it is usually a relatively straightforward procedure.

If there’s a property involved, you can use our conveyancing partner’s fixed-price service to sell the property, or transfer it into someone else's name.

Read our Estate Completion Checklist →

FAQs

Got a question? We’re here to help.

  • Why wouldn’t I use a normal lawyer service?

    Most people have a straightforward situation where getting a Grant of Confirmation is just a formality because a company like a bank has asked for it, or there is a property to sell.


    Using a normal lawyer service that costs thousands of pounds to deal with a straightforward situation can often be like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. On occasion, things can be complicated and using a lawyer might be necessary, but in our experience, this is unnecessary in the majority of cases.


    We created our service to provide an affordable, quick solution to deal with straightforward cases.


    Using our method to deal with the estate will result in:

    • a faster route to probate and completion (often by months)
    • people keeping more of their inheritance (usually by thousands of pounds)
    • less stress and frustration by using a service specifically designed to give you a 5-star experience

    Get qualified for one of our services now

  • What is your expertise in this area?

    Aside from helping hundreds of executors to a successful outcome already, our founder, Mike, is a qualified Law Accountant, specialising in probate work. He spent years pouring over and assessing thousands of lawyers’ case files, developing a deep knowledge of how this process works and the various ways it plays out in the real world. 


    We also have a team of paralegals who worked in solicitor firms for decades - they've pretty much seen it all. We also have a consultant solicitor and retired Will expert that we run any complicated matters by.


    On the rare occasion that your situation becomes too complicated, we would refund our fee so you can continue with a lawyer. This is really unusual, but, for this reason, we only recommend our service if we are confident it is a good fit for your needs.


    Get qualified for our service now


  • Why would I pay for a service if I can apply myself?

    It may feel like applying without any help is the most economical thing to do, but the Sheriff Court process has not been set up to help you succeed. It’s a very old-fashioned process that is in dire need of being updated (like the English process was in 2019). The courts are extremely fussy about how you fill out the application.


    The instructions do not explain how to meet their exceptionally high standards and the reality is that although you can feel like you’ve followed all the instructions, there is an extremely low chance of success, without any help. Furthermore, if the estate is worth more than £36,000, the court is not permitted to tell you what you’ve done wrong. This can lead to a lot of frustration and time wasted. 


    Watch/listen to Paul who applied 6 times himself before coming to us.

  • What guarantees can you give me?

    100% success rate

    Every single one of our checked applications are accepted by the court - over 97% on the first attempt. Different Sheriff Courts have different preferences as to how things should be laid out in the forms. Having helped people to apply to every Sheriff Court in Scotland, we’ve incorporated each court’s preferences into our service.


    5-star customer experience 

    The primary reason for our existence is to improve people’s experience of dealing with a death in Scotland. We always endeavour to meet you where you are, providing tailored support based on your needs. We prioritise our communication with you - almost always responding within one working day. We also work with a language specialist to make sure our guidance is accessible to all, always choosing plain English over legal jargon.

     

    100% money back guarantee

    We take the time to make sure that our service is a great fit for the estate you're dealing with. However, if at any stage a complication arises which means this is no longer the case, we will promptly refund our fee so you can pass everything over to a lawyer (this is extremely rare). For this reason, we will not recommend our service if we aren’t totally confident that it is a good fit for your needs.

  • How much does probate cost?

    The Sheriff Court charges a fee based on the value of the gross estate:


    Under £50,000 - no fee

    £50,000 to £250,000 - £341

    Over £250,000 - £684


    Our services are fixed in price, starting from £595 - see our pricing.


    If there's no Will, there are additional charges - find out more here.


    If you use a solicitor it's likely to cost many thousands of pounds. The average hourly rate for a solicitor in Scotland is around £250/hour (plus VAT!).

  • How long does probate take?

    You must use the Sheriff Court local to where the deceased person last lived (or Edinburgh if they weren't living in Scotland). Different courts have different timescales. The smallest courts could take a few days, with Edinburgh and Glasgow potentially taking 2-3 months, and the rest lying somewhere in between.


    We take 5-10 days to process your application, assuming we have all the information we need from you.


    You will also need to wait for various financial organisations to respond to you, which can take weeks everytime you contact them. Follow our free guidance to help cut down the number of times you need to contact them.


    Selling a property can often take some time, depending on where it is.

  • Can I use money in the estate now?

    If you are an executor, and have the permission of the other executors, yes you can use the deceased person's money now, perhaps to pay for bills and expenses. 


    We recommend opening a separate account and trying to get as much of the deceased person's money paid there as you can. 


    Banks will pay funeral bills from a frozen bank account.

What to do when someone dies

Free PDF. A simple timeline of what to do in the first 24 hours, the first week, and what comes next - written for Scotland.

  • First 24 hours: dependants & pets, secure the home, cancel deliveries, sort insurance
  • First week: Death Certificate steps, finding the Will, starting funeral arrangements, who to notify
  • Get organised: the key documents/info you’ll need (NI, tax refs, deeds, etc.)
  • Next steps: a plain-English overview of estate administration + Confirmation (if needed)
Download our free first week checklist →