Form PA1P Worked Example: Applying for Probate When There Is a Will
Form PA1P is the paper application a named executor uses to get a grant of probate in England and Wales when the deceased left a valid will. You complete sections about yourself, the deceased and the will, then in Section 7 you enter three inheritance tax figures — the gross value, net value and net qualifying value of the estate — before sending the form with the original will, the death certificate and a £300 fee. This worked example takes a single executor through a £480,000 estate, box by box.
Most people only ever fill in a probate application once or twice in their lives, usually while grieving, and the PA1P’s seven sections of legal phrasing don’t make it obvious what actually matters. The good news: if the estate is straightforward and no inheritance tax is due, the form is shorter than it looks. Below I walk through which parts the named executor completes, exactly how the inheritance tax values go in, what to enclose, and when the paper PA1P is the right choice versus the online probate service.
What PA1P is for — and who completes it
Form PA1P (“Probate application — this form is for an application where the person who has died left a will”) is the postal route to a grant of probate. You use it when:
- the deceased left a valid will (if there is no will, you use form PA1A instead), and
- you are a named executor in that will, or a beneficiary applying because no executor can act.
The named executor is the person the will appoints to gather in the estate, pay debts and distribute what’s left. Up to four executors can apply together, but in this guide we follow a single executor acting alone, which is the most common scenario. You complete PA1P in block capitals, tick the boxes that apply, and sign the statement of truth. The official form and guidance is on GOV.UK.
You must estimate the estate’s value before completing the form — PA1P’s own instructions warn that your application may be delayed if you don’t. That means knowing the property, savings, investments and debts well enough to give HMRC the gross and net figures. Do the valuation first; fill in the form second.
Which sections of PA1P the executor completes
PA1P is organised into numbered sections. You only fill in the parts that apply to your situation — an executor with a clean, in-England estate skips the foreign-domicile and “applying on behalf of someone else” questions entirely. Here’s the map.
| Section | What it covers | Does our single executor complete it? |
|---|---|---|
| Checklist | The tick-list of documents you must enclose (original will, death certificate, fee). | Yes — must be completed |
| 1 — About you (the applicant) | Your name, address and contact details as the person applying. | Yes |
| 2 — About the person who died | The deceased’s full name, date of death, address and marital status. | Yes |
| 3–4 — The will and executors | Details of the will, codicils, and the executors named in it. | Yes |
| 5 — Applying on behalf of someone | Only if you’re applying as an attorney or for a person who lacks capacity. | No (skip) |
| 6 — Foreign domicile / foreign wills | Only if the deceased lived abroad or there’s a foreign will or succession certificate. | No (skip) |
| 7 — Inheritance tax | Which IHT route applied, and the gross / net / net qualifying values. | Yes — the key section |
| 8–9 — Fee & legal statement | The application fee and the statement of truth you sign. | Yes |
Section numbering above follows the current GOV.UK PA1P form. Question 7.3 is where the IHT values go; question 7.2 routes you depending on which inheritance tax forms (if any) you had to submit to HMRC.
Worked example: one executor, a £480,000 estate, a valid will
Margaret Whitlock died on 4 February 2026, a widow living in Harrogate. Her will appoints her daughter, Susan Whitlock, as sole executor. Susan values the estate:
- Home (sole name): £395,000
- Cash ISA and current account: £72,000
- Premium Bonds: £18,000
- Gross estate: £485,000
- Less the outstanding funeral bill and a final utility/council-tax balance: −£5,000
- Net estate: £480,000
Is inheritance tax due? Margaret’s husband died years earlier and left everything to her, so his entire nil-rate band was unused. Susan can transfer it, giving Margaret’s estate a combined nil-rate band of £325,000 + £325,000 = £650,000. The net estate of £480,000 is below that, so no inheritance tax is payable and the estate qualifies as an excepted estate.
Because there’s no IHT to pay, Susan does not need to submit a full IHT400 to HMRC first. She reports the estate values directly on the probate application — in Section 7 of PA1P.
Two figures drive everything here, and both are official current thresholds: the standard inheritance tax nil-rate band is £325,000, and a surviving spouse’s estate can claim up to a 100% transfer of a late partner’s unused band — here lifting the threshold to £650,000 (GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax). Anything above the available threshold is normally taxed at 40%, but Margaret’s estate never reaches it.
How Susan fills in the key sections
- Section 1 (About you): Susan enters her own name, address and phone/email.
- Section 2 (About the person who died): Margaret’s full name, the date of death (4 February 2026), her last address, and that she was a widow.
- Sections 3–4 (The will): Susan confirms there is a will dated as written, no later codicils, and that she is the sole executor named and is applying.
- Sections 5–6: Skipped — Susan applies in her own right and Margaret was UK-domiciled with no foreign assets or will.
- Section 7 (Inheritance tax): The numbers, covered next.
How the IHT figures (excepted-estate values) go on PA1P
Section 7 is where executors most often hesitate, so here it is in plain terms. Question 7.2 asks which inheritance tax forms you had to complete. The choices route you onwards:
| If you ticked… | What it means | Form sends you to |
|---|---|---|
| “I did not have to submit any forms to HMRC” | Excepted estate, no IHT due (our example) | Question 7.3 — enter the values |
| IHT400 | Full account; IHT may be due | Question 7.6 |
| IHT400 and IHT421 | Full account plus probate summary | Question 7.7 |
| IHT207 | Used for certain estates where the deceased was domiciled abroad | Question 7.8 |
Susan ticks “I did not have to submit any forms to HMRC” and goes to question 7.3. (Note the form spells out that HMRC’s online IHT checker tool is not a form — using it doesn’t change which box you tick.)
Question 7.3 then asks for three values “of the estate for inheritance tax.” This is the heart of the application:
| PA1P field (Q7.3) | What it is | Susan enters |
|---|---|---|
| Gross value of the estate for inheritance tax | Everything the deceased owned, before deducting debts | £485,000 |
| Net value of the estate for inheritance tax | Gross value minus debts and liabilities | £480,000 |
| Net qualifying value of the estate | Net value minus exempt transfers (e.g. to a spouse or charity) | £480,000 |
In Margaret’s case the net value and net qualifying value are the same £480,000, because there are no further spouse/charity exemptions reducing the figure (her husband had already died). Where a will leaves part of the estate to a surviving spouse or a charity, the net qualifying value would be lower than the net value — that exempt slice comes out.
Question 7.4 is also relevant to Susan: it asks whether she is claiming the unused proportion of a late spouse’s nil-rate band. Because Margaret relied on her late husband’s transferable band to stay an excepted estate, Susan answers yes here. (HMRC may later ask for evidence such as the first spouse’s death certificate, will and any grant.)
Gross = before debts. Net = after debts. Net qualifying = after debts and after exemptions like the spouse and charity exemptions. For a simple excepted estate with no exempt beneficiaries, net and net qualifying are usually identical — but they are not the same line, so fill in all three.
When IHT is due, the order changes
If Margaret’s estate had been worth, say, £900,000 with no transferable band available, inheritance tax would be due. Then Susan would have had to submit form IHT400 to HMRC and pay the tax due first; HMRC then issues a reference (and the probate summary IHT421 process applies) so the probate registry can confirm the tax has been dealt with. Only an estate that owes IHT goes through that pre-probate HMRC step — an excepted estate like Margaret’s reports values straight on PA1P (GOV.UK: before you apply for probate).
Documents to send with PA1P — and the £300 fee
The PA1P checklist (the first thing on the form) lists what must be enclosed. Get this right or the application is delayed. You send:
| Enclose | Detail |
|---|---|
| The original will | The last original will and any codicils made since. Photocopies are not accepted. Don’t staple, pin or remove anything attached to it. |
| The official death certificate | The original or an interim certificate. A photocopy is not accepted. |
| The application fee | £300 for estates over £5,000. By post, pay by cheque made payable to ‘HM Courts and Tribunals Service’. |
| Extra copies (optional) | £1.50 each — useful so you can send a copy to each bank or asset-holder at once. (Check the current copy fee on GOV.UK before sending.) |
The fee is confirmed on GOV.UK: there is no fee if the estate is £5,000 or less, and the application fee is £300 above that (GOV.UK: probate fees). If you’re on a low income or certain benefits you may get help with the fee via form EX160. Susan’s £480,000 estate pays the full £300.
Personal (non-practitioner) applicants post the completed PA1P, original will, death certificate and cheque to HMCTS Probate, PO Box 12625, Harlow, CM20 9QE. Keep photocopies of everything you send. The probate registry helpline is 0300 303 0648. Postal applications can take up to around 12 weeks to process if there’s no delay in documents (GOV.UK: how to apply by post). Always check the current address on GOV.UK before posting, as registry addresses change.
Paper PA1P vs the online probate service
For a single executor with a valid will and a straightforward excepted estate — exactly Susan’s situation — the online probate service is usually the better route. It guides you question by question, validates entries, lets you pay the £300 fee by card, and tends to be processed faster. You still post the original will and death certificate to the registry afterwards; the difference is how you complete the application, not whether you send the original documents.
| Choose… | When |
|---|---|
| Online probate service | One or more executors, a clear valid will, no foreign-domicile complications. Most personal applicants. Pay by card; faster validation. |
| Paper PA1P | You can’t or prefer not to apply online; there’s a foreign element; the will or executor situation is unusual; or you’re helping someone offline. Pay by cheque. |
The legal effect is identical — both produce the same grant of probate. The figures you enter (gross, net, net qualifying) and the documents you send are the same either way. Start at GOV.UK: apply for probate, which routes you to the online service or the PA1P download.
- A named executor uses PA1P when there’s a valid will; a single executor skips Sections 5 (acting for someone) and 6 (foreign domicile).
- Section 7 is the inheritance-tax section. Q7.2 routes you; for an excepted estate tick “did not have to submit any forms to HMRC” and go to Q7.3.
- Q7.3 asks for three figures: gross value (before debts), net value (after debts) and net qualifying value (after debts and exemptions).
- The nil-rate band is £325,000; a surviving spouse can transfer up to a 100% unused band, giving up to £650,000 before IHT bites at 40%.
- Enclose the original will, the death certificate (no photocopies) and the £300 fee (no fee under £5,000).
- For a simple estate, the online service is usually faster than paper PA1P — same documents, same outcome.
Frequently asked questions
Do I fill in PA1P if there’s no will?
No. PA1P is only for estates where the deceased left a valid will. If there’s no will, you apply for letters of administration using form PA1A instead. The two forms are very similar but PA1A asks who is entitled to apply under the intestacy rules rather than who is the named executor.
What are the three values PA1P asks for in Section 7?
At question 7.3 you enter the gross value of the estate for inheritance tax (everything owned, before debts), the net value (gross minus debts and liabilities), and the net qualifying value (net value minus exempt transfers such as gifts to a spouse or charity). For a simple excepted estate the net and net qualifying values are often the same.
Do I have to send IHT forms to HMRC before applying for probate?
Only if inheritance tax is actually due. For an excepted estate with no IHT to pay, you report the estate values directly on the probate application and tick “I did not have to submit any forms to HMRC” at question 7.2. If tax is due you complete and submit form IHT400 to HMRC first, pay what’s owed, and obtain the reference HMRC issues before the registry will grant probate.
How much is the probate application fee?
The application fee is £300 for estates valued over £5,000, and there is no fee for estates of £5,000 or less. Extra copies of the grant cost a small fee each (check the current amount on GOV.UK). By post you pay by cheque payable to ‘HM Courts and Tribunals Service’; online you pay by card. Help with fees may be available for low-income applicants via form EX160.
Can I send a photocopy of the will or death certificate?
No. The probate registry requires the last original will (plus any original codicils) and the official death certificate. Photocopies are not accepted and sending them will delay or stop your application. Keep your own photocopies for reference, but the originals go to the registry.
Is the paper PA1P or the online service better?
For most personal applicants with a valid will and a straightforward estate, the online probate service is easier and usually quicker — it validates your answers and lets you pay by card. Paper PA1P suits people who can’t apply online, who are dealing with a foreign-domicile element, or who prefer a paper trail. Both produce the same grant of probate.
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