WillSum › Bank probate limits
Probate
Do I need probate? What the banks themselves say
Each bank sets its own line, below which it will pay out without a grant. Here is each one, in the bank's own words, read from its own page.
- You may not need probate
- What each bank says
- What those lines mean
- What to ask when you ring
- If a grant is needed
Start here: you may not need probate, or a solicitor, at all
Before anything else: you might not need probate. If everything was held jointly, or there were only savings, it may pass to the survivor without a grant at all. Ring the bank and ask. It costs a phone call and it can save you the fee, the forms and the firm.
Who that applies to: Anyone dealing with an estate where the person who died only had savings, or held shares, money, land or property jointly with somebody else who survives them. Joint tenancies and joint accounts normally pass to the survivor automatically. Each bank, insurer and building society sets its own limit, so the answer comes from ringing them, not from a guide.
Source: HM Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
The government's own page says to ask the banks first, and says every organisation has its own rules. It publishes no figure, because there is no single figure. What follows is each bank's own line, read off that bank's own bereavement page, so you can see roughly where you stand before you pick up the phone.
What each bank's own page says
We read the bereavement pages of ten banks and building societies. Seven of them publish a line above which they want a grant. Three publish no figure at all.
| Bank or building society | Its published line | In its own words | Its own page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barclays | More than £50,000 across the person's sole accounts | If the person had more than £50,000 across their sole accounts with us, we’ll need to see a grant of probate, grant of confirmation or letters of administration. | www.barclays.co.uk |
| Halifax | No figure published on its bereavement page | The grant of probate is the legal document issued by the Probate Registry. We may not need to see this; it will depend on the products and services held with us. | www.halifax.co.uk |
| HSBC UK | £50,000 where there is a will | Amount limits (UK residents): If there is a will (Grant of Probate): £50,000 If there is no will (Letters of Administration): £25,000 Every situation is different, and what we need can change if we get new information. We may still ask for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration even if the balance is below the amount limits above, before we release any money or close accounts. | www.hsbc.co.uk |
| HSBC UK | £25,000 where there is no will | Amount limits (UK residents): If there is a will (Grant of Probate): £50,000 If there is no will (Letters of Administration): £25,000 | www.hsbc.co.uk |
| Lloyds Bank | No figure published on its bereavement page | The grant of probate is the legal document issued by the Probate Registry. We may not need to see this - it will depend on the products and services held with us. | www.lloydsbank.com |
| Nationwide Building Society | No figure published on its bereavement page | Whether or not you need it depends on the size and type of the estate and how much it’s worth. Other organisations have their own rules, so you’ll need to check with each one. | www.nationwide.co.uk |
| Santander UK | More than £50,000 across accounts in the person's sole name | For Santander, this is required when the total value of all accounts held with us in the sole name of the deceased is more than £50,000. | www.santander.co.uk |
| Skipton Building Society | £50,000 or more held with Skipton | If the person who’s died had £50,000 or more with Skipton, the executor will need a Grant of Representation, which is issued by your local District Probate Office. If you need to get a Grant of Representation, Letters of Administration, or Certificate of Confirmation, we’ll need to see it regardless of the balance(s) in the account(s). | www.skipton.co.uk |
| Starling Bank | More than £30,000 in the account | If the account balance is more than £30,000, you’ll also need a grant of probate or letters of administration. | www.starlingbank.com |
| Virgin Money | £50,000 or more across its Virgin Money accounts | You'll need to provide an original or certified copy of one of these documents if the balance of their Virgin Money accounts or Virgin Money Unit Trust Managers accounts (if they had an investment or pension with us) is £50,000 or more. | uk.virginmoney.com |
| Yorkshire Building Society | Over £50,000 in savings accounts | For balances under £50,000 you'll need to complete this form . For balances over £50,000 you'll need to complete this form and include a copy of the grant of representation . | ybs.co.uk |
Every row was read from the bank's own page on 28 September 2026, and each links the page it came from. A bank can change its line without notice, so treat the table as where to start the conversation, not where to end it.
Why some rows say no figure
Nationwide publishes no figure on its estate and probate page. Figures for it that appear in guides elsewhere are not on that page. Lloyds publishes no figure. It says it will tell you whether a grant is needed, and that the answer depends on what the person held with it. Halifax publishes no figure. Its page says the answer depends on what the person held with it, and asks you to ring its bereavement team if you are not sure.
Guides elsewhere print figures for banks like these. We read the banks' own pages and those figures were not on them, so we have left the rows blank rather than copy a number the bank itself does not publish.
What those lines mean, in plain words
- Each line is for that bank alone. It counts what that bank held, not what the whole estate was worth. Barclays counts everything in the person's sole name with Barclays together, not account by account.
- Joint accounts are usually outside it. Money held jointly normally passes to the surviving owner without a grant at all, which is the first line of the government's own guidance above.
- A line is not a promise. HSBC is the one bank we read that sets a different line depending on whether there is a will, and it says plainly that it may still ask for a grant below either line.
- If a grant is needed for anything else, the banks can ask for it too. Skipton says it plainly: if a grant is being taken out for anything else in the estate, it will want to see it too, whatever the balance.
- A mortgage can change the answer. Santander also asks for a grant, whatever the balance, if the person had a Santander mortgage in their sole name or held one jointly as tenants in common.
Where there is no will, HSBC's line is half the one it sets where there is a will. Starling's line is lower than most of the others here, and it is set on the account balance. Below its line, Virgin Money sends you a form to fill in instead of asking for a grant. Yorkshire Building Society uses one closure form either side of its line, and adds the grant above it.
What to ask when you ring
This can wait until you are ready, and nobody at a bereavement team expects you to know the vocabulary. Four questions cover it:
- Do you need to see a grant of probate, or letters of administration, for what you hold for this person?
- If not, what form do you use instead, and who has to sign it?
- Can the funeral bill be paid from the account before anything else is settled?
- Can I send the documents by post or as a scan, and do you need originals back?
Write down what each one says. If every bank that held money is under its own line and nothing else needs a grant, you may be finished without one.
If it turns out a grant is needed
You are allowed to do this yourself. The government runs the service, the form is the form, and the court charges the same fee whether a solicitor sends it or you do. It is not the right call for everybody, and nobody should feel got at for handing it to a firm. But it is a choice, and a lot of what is written about probate is written by people who would rather you did not know that.
Who that applies to: In England and Wales, an executor named in the will, or the closest living relative if there is no will. You need the estate valued and any Inheritance Tax dealt with first. It is hardest where the estate is taxable, where the will is disputed, where assets sit abroad or where a trust is involved, and those are the cases where paying somebody is a reasonable decision rather than a defeat.
Source: HM Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
In England and Wales the court charges £526 to grant probate on an estate over the first few thousand pounds, the same figure whether you apply or a firm does, and there is help with that fee for people on a low income or on certain benefits. Scotland and Northern Ireland charge differently. Every one of those fees, and the help, is on the what probate costs page.
Source: HM Courts and Tribunals Service, read 24 September 2026.
If you would rather somebody else did it, that is a reasonable decision. Firms offering probate have to publish their prices, and we keep them, quoted and dated, on the compare probate fees page.
Questions people ask
How much money can be in a bank account before probate is needed?
There is no single figure. Each bank and building society sets its own line, and gov.uk publishes none. Of the ten we read, six publish a line of £50,000, Starling publishes £30,000 on the account balance, HSBC publishes £25,000 where there is no will, and three publish no figure on their bereavement pages at all. Each line counts only what that one bank held.
Do banks release money without probate?
Often, yes. Below its own line a bank will usually close the accounts and pay out on its own form instead of a grant. Each bank decides, and some say on their own pages that they may still ask for a grant below the line, or will want to see one if it is being taken out for anything else in the estate.
Is the probate limit per bank or for the whole estate?
Per bank. Each line on this page counts what that bank or building society held for the person, in the words its own page uses. Money held jointly normally passes to the surviving owner without a grant at all.
Do I need a solicitor to deal with a bank after a death?
No. Banks deal with executors and next of kin directly, and below their line they do it on a form. If a grant does turn out to be needed, you can apply for it yourself, and in England and Wales the court charges the same fee whoever applies.