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Who Owns and Insures
A House During Probate?

Legally, a deceased person cannot own property or hold an insurance contract. During probate, the property is owned by the Estate until it is inherited or sold and the proceeds distributed to the beneficiaries. Those acting as the Personal Representatives (the Executors if there is a Will or the Administrators if there is no Will) are legally responsible for protecting and insuring the property from the owner's death. If the property isn’t insured correctly and a loss occurs, those acting in this capacity will be personally liable for any losses incurred.

Protect your Liability and get a Probate Property Insurance Quote from Insuristic.
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Comparison chart showing that Personal Representatives, not beneficiaries, are legally responsible for insurance and maintenance during probate.

Why it is important to understand who the legal owners were

The ownership of probate property is likely to fall into two categories:

  • Joint tenants: the deceased’s share passes automatically to the surviving co-owner and does not form part of the probate estate. 
    • If there are no surviving owners, then the property will enter the probate process.
  • Tenants in common – the deceased’s share forms part of the estate and must be dealt with through probate. 
    • If there are other surviving owners, they must also be listed on the policy.  This is common in unoccupied property when one owner has sadly passed away, and the other is in care.

This is important so that you recognise the legal owners fully in the insured name, to avoid issues if there is a claim.

Read our guide: Whose name should house insurance be in during probate? To ensure you get this correct.

Who should insure a property in probate?

This depends on whether there is a Will or not.

  • If there is a Will, it is the Executors: If you are named in a Will, you are legally responsible for insuring the property from the date of death. You do not need to wait for the Grant of Probate to act.
  • If there is no Will it is the Administrators: While you only gain full legal authority once Letters of Administration are issued, you are still responsible for protecting the property in the interim.

When the owner dies or the property becomes empty, most home insurance policies require the underwriter to be notified within 7 days, as this is a significant change in risk. If you fail to notify them, the insurer may treat the policy as if it never existed

Whatever your role, you should review the property's insurance as soon as possible to protect both your liability and the liability of others undertaking this role.

So why not get a quote today by visiting our Probate Property Insurance page. 

If you have further questions, visit our Probate Insurance FAQs page.

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Further Reading

If you are reading this page, it is likely that you are early in the probate process so the following pages will help you:

About the Author: Rob Faulkner

Rob Faulkner, Founder of Insuristic

Rob Faulkner is a leading expert in Probate Insurance, Probate Risk Management, Property Insurance (especially Unoccupied Home Insurance), with nearly 30 years’ experience in the UK insurance market. He is the founder of Insuristic, a specialist provider of probate-related insurance solutions and educational content for executors.

Rob is an ACII Chartered Insurance Broker, a Chartered Manager, and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.   His background spans insurers, brokers, and Insurtechs, always focused on innovation, transparency, simplicity, and fair value.

Rob is passionate about product development and improving insurance education through marketing, helping people understand what they are buying. These values sit at the heart of everything we do at Insuristic.

His mission is to make Insurance smarter, easier to understand, and faster to buy.  Particularly for the Probate market, where Rob has identified friction points and solved them for lay clients and solicitors alike.

Want to learn more? Visit my author page or follow me on LinkedIn.

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