As a general rule, if the deceased owned a house, buildings or land in their sole name then you will be required to obtain a grant before you can deal with these assets.
Banks and financial institutions have their own rules about when they require Probate to be able to close the accounts. You can contact each institution to ask whether they need Probate.
You may not need Probate if the person who died:
had jointly owned land, property, shares or money – these will automatically pass to the surviving owners
only had modest savings or premium bonds held in their sole name
If you are unsure if you need Probate, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will talk this through with you on a no obligation basis.