What comes before this
1. Confirm who should be dealing with the estate
To establish the right person to be administering the estate, you first need to know whether the person left a valid Will.
If there is a Will
If the person left a valid Will, this Will should name one or more ‘Executors’. This person or these people are the ones with the authority to deal with the assets in an estate. If the Executors are not able to act, everyone who inherits a percentage share of the estate would usually be appointed instead.
If there is no Will
If the person didn’t leave a Will, there are a few extra steps you need to take. This includes getting someone appointed as the ‘Executor-dative’ by the Sheriff Court, this person can then carry out the estate administration duties. Scottish law dictates who needs to apply to be Executor-dative.
2. Value the estate
As part of the estate administration process, the Executor must value the estate.
This means totalling up the value of everything the deceased person owned of monetary value, including money in bank accounts, property, and possessions.
You also need to include things with less direct monetary value, like certain gifts and trusts, and property that the person gave away but kept living in.
After you’ve valued the estate, you can work out whether you need to apply for Confirmation, and whether you need to report the estate values to HMRC first.
3. Get Confirmation (Scottish Probate) if you need it
‘Confirmation’ refers to the legal documentation that gives executors the authority to deal with a person's assets after they die.
Around 50% of estates require Confirmation. Estates with a property or large amounts of money normally need Confirmation, but there are exceptions.
Complete the correct forms
Everyone who needs to apply for Confirmation needs to complete the C1 form. Depending on your situation, you might also need to complete other forms, like the IHT400 form.
Around 10% of people also need to complete the IHT400. If you need to do this, you need to include an unsigned copy of your C1 (Confirmation) form. This means you need to complete both at the same time.
Once HMRC sends you an authorisation letter to say they are satisfied with your IHT400 form, you can submit the C1 form.
Apply to the Sheriff Court
Once you’ve completed the C1 form you need to submit it to the Sheriff Court where the deceased last lived.
Get the Grant of Confirmation
Once the Court approves your C1 application, they will post you a ‘Grant of Confirmation’ booklet. If they reject it, you need to reapply.
Get help
Completing all the forms to apply for Confirmation correctly can be very complicated. You can do this by yourself, use a solicitor, or get fixed-fee expert help from us. Read this article to see how we could be best option for you.
4. Close down the estate
After the Court posts the Grant of Confirmation to you, you’ll be able to:
close all the person’s accounts
reclaim any money from expenses you paid
deal with any property
pay the money and other bequests to the people who are inheriting the estate
Scottish Legal Rights
If there is a valid Will, the terms of that Will say who will inherit. However, Scottish law can sometimes override these terms, through something called 'Legal Rights'. If the person who died was survived by their spouse/civil partner, or any children or grandchildren, it's important to consider Legal Rights before distributing the estate.
Selling or transferring property
If you need to sell or transfer the title of a property after getting Confirmation, you will need a solicitor. We can pass your contact details to a solicitor who can give you a fixed-fee quote for this work.
If you plan to sell the property, you don’t need to transfer it first. As an Executor, you can sell it directly, once you get Confirmation.
Things sold for a higher value or that generate income
If anything is sold for a value higher than the one listed in your Grant of Confirmation, you might have to pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT).
If any assets generated income during the administration period between the person dying and the estate being distributed to the beneficiaries, the estate might need to pay Income Tax.
Distributing the estate
Once all debts and taxes have been paid, you can distribute the estate according to the terms of the Will, or as detailed by the law when there is no Will.
If all the beneficiaries agree, you can alter the terms of the Will within two years of the person dying. This is sometimes useful to reduce the overall tax, or to simplify the terms (like removing trusts).