For executors and families
Estate inventory tool
Before you apply for probate you need to know what the person owned and owed on the date they died. List each asset and debt here and the tool adds them up as you go, free. With the DIY Probate Pack (£59) you can download the finished inventory as a Word document, with the five figures the application asks for worked through line by line.
List what they owned
Home, accounts, savings, shares, car, belongings. One line each, at the date-of-death value.
List what they owed
Funeral costs, mortgage, cards, bills. Mark any debt that was owed jointly.
See the totals
Running totals are free. The Word inventory and the five application figures come with the pack.
- The estate
- What they owned
- Gifts
- What they owed
- Totals and download
Take your time. You can add figures as statements and valuations arrive, and come back on this device to carry on.
Every value in the inventory is the value on this date.
This tool adds up the figures you enter. It does not decide whether Inheritance Tax is due or whether the estate is an excepted estate, and it does not fill in any probate or HMRC form. WillSafe UK is a self-help service, not a firm of solicitors, and this is not legal or tax advice. Your entries are kept in this browser only. They are sent to our server at the moment you download, used to build the document, and not stored.
Which figures does a probate application ask for?
GOV.UK says to have five values ready before you apply. The inventory in the pack works each one out from your own entries and shows the sum behind it, so you can check it and type it into the application yourself.
| Value | What GOV.UK says it is |
|---|---|
| Gross estate value for Inheritance Tax | The total value of the estate when the person died |
| Net estate value for Inheritance Tax | The estate minus debts, costs and other allowable expenses such as household bills and mortgages |
| Net qualifying estate value for Inheritance Tax | The net value minus any exemptions for a spouse, civil partner or charity |
| Gross value for probate | The total value of the estate minus certain assets and gifts |
| Net value for probate | The probate value minus debts and costs |
Source: GOV.UK, Applying for probate: before you apply (checked 11 November 2026).
Does the tool tell me if the estate is an excepted estate?
No. It sets GOV.UK’s published limits beside your own figures, for example the £325,000 Inheritance Tax threshold and the £250,000 limit on gifts in the 7 years before death, and points you to HMRC’s own checker. Whether an estate is excepted, and whether any tax is due, depends on facts the tool does not ask about, so it never gives a verdict. GOV.UK: check the type of estate.
Does it fill in the probate form?
No. The inventory is your own working record. It is not a probate form and is not sent to the Probate Registry or HMRC. You complete the online application, or form PA1P or PA1A, yourself. WillSafe is not a firm of solicitors and does not prepare probate applications.
Need help? Email richard@willsafe.org.uk. Also useful: the probate cost calculator and the bereavement letters builder.