About Settling

Why it exists

When someone dies, whoever is named executor — or steps up when there is no will — is often handed the job with no warning and no training, at exactly the point when they have the least capacity to take it on. Probate then turns out to involve a scattered set of government processes: registering the death, valuing the estate, applying for probate, possibly paying Inheritance Tax, notifying organisations, and eventually distributing what is left. Each part is documented somewhere on GOV.UK or HMRC, but it is rarely presented as one humane route through what you are facing.

Settling exists to close that gap. It does not invent new rules or shortcuts; it takes the guidance that is already public and turns it into an ordered, personalised checklist, with the official page linked at every step. The aim is simple: fewer loose ends in your head, and a calmer place to see what comes next.

What Settling is

• A free checklist tool built around four questions about your estate.
• A set of direct links to the relevant GOV.UK, HMRC and Gazette pages at each step.
• An ongoing record of what is done, when, and what the estate's accounts look like.
• Scoped to probate in England and Wales — Scotland and Northern Ireland have different processes and aren't covered.

What Settling isn't

• Not a law firm, and not legal advice. Settling tells you what the general process involves and where to find the official guidance. It can't assess your specific legal position, and it isn't a substitute for a solicitor.
• Not a filing service. Settling never submits forms, applications or payments on your behalf. Every application — probate, tax, anything else — is made by you, directly with GOV.UK, HMRC or whichever body is involved.
• Not built for every estate. Estates that are large, contested, involve trusts, or have unusual assets often need a solicitor regardless of what a checklist can offer. Settling can still track what's been done, but it's not a substitute for advice on those cases.

Why it's free

Settling is free to use, with no card required to sign up. The guidance it links to — GOV.UK, HMRC, The Gazette — is already public and free. Settling's job is to organise it around your situation, save your progress, and give you somewhere steady to return to; not to charge for access to information the government already publishes.

More detail

See how Settling works for a step-by-step walk-through, or the FAQ for answers to specific questions. Details of what data Settling stores and why are in the privacy policy.