Dealing with death is never easy. On top of grief, executors must collect assets, settle debts, and make sure the right people receive their inheritance.
For many Scottish executors, this means applying to the correct local Sherrif Court for a Grant of Confirmation: an official document that gives them permission to handle the deceased person’s money, property, and possessions. Without this document, many organisations involved – such as banks and insurance providers – will refuse to release funds or share data, particularly when dealing with higher amounts.
Slightly over 50% of executors will need to go through the Confirmation process (often referred to as probate). It all depends on the exact make-up of the estate, with some smaller balances or jointly owned assets not triggering the need for it. This is where generic web answers and queries responded to by AI start to lead people astray…
From grief to Google
It’s natural to look for quick answers online. But Scottish Confirmation is a niche area, and broad online guidance rarely captures the exceptions and nuances that matter.
One persistent myth is that a solicitor is needed in most cases. In reality, however, solicitors are typically only mandatory when there is no Will and the estate is valued at over £250,000 (unless there are disagreements or complex tax issues at play). Otherwise, executors are free to prepare and submit their own Confirmation applications, with or without specialist guidance from non-solicitor experts. Certain exemptions, such as the existence of a surviving spouse, can introduce complications to this rule, however, many of which AI and the internet fail to capture in quick-fire responses. Indeed, search results and AI often present the ‘solicitor required’ myth as fact, particularly in response to executors who lack the prior knowledge of probate needed to ask the right, in-depth questions to get a more nuanced answer.
The absolute confidence with which both search engines and AI display brief, generic answers, without all the detailed ins and outs, can be misleading – often proving costly for those who opt for a solicitor without really needing to.
Why AI gets Scottish Confirmation wrong
AI and generic probate web pages struggle with Scottish-specific rules and updates in particular. Typical failure points include:
- Defaulting to England & Wales law
Scottish forms, processes, and thresholds differ. Advice that’s correct south of the border can be wrong in Scotland, leading to missteps or unnecessary solicitor spend.
- Misstating when Confirmation is needed
Many institutions insist on Confirmation for larger balances, while others may release smaller sums or deal with joint assets without it. AI tends to imply you “must have probate to do anything”, which is misleading in practice – potentially causing vulnerable people to mistakenly interpret this as an absolute need for solicitor involvement. Solicitors not only charge more but can also draw out the probate process unnecessarily, with those dealing with large caseloads often taking up to a year to complete the process.
- Getting small-estate rules wrong
Small estates in Scotland (currently up to £36,000) have a separate route with free Sheriff Clerk assistance. AI answers frequently cite out-of-date figures or mix Scottish rules with English guidance, potentially blocking access to the right, accessible, free help.
- Confusion over Bonds of Caution
For many estates without a Will, a Bond of Caution is needed before Confirmation can be applied for. AI often omits spouse/civil-partner outcomes that can remove the need for this Bond, or misses insurer practice on higher-value estates, which can push families toward unnecessary expense or failed applications. AI will tend to say that you need a solicitor if you need a bond, which simply isn’t true.
- Out-of-date fees and processes
Court fees and administrative details change. AI trained on older data can direct executors to the wrong figures or retired procedures, causing avoidable delays.
Confidence is not correctness
Generative AI is built to sound fluent and authoritative. That fluency can mask subtle inaccuracies – especially in a jurisdiction where the rules diverge from the rest of the UK. Recent judicial warnings about the misuse of AI in legal work underline the point: even professionals must verify outputs. If lawyers need to double-check, it’s easy to see how members of the public can be led off course.
A moving target
Rules, thresholds, and fees are periodically updated. Without regular human checks, online guides and AI models lag behind, encouraging people to misunderstand fees, miss steps, or submit the wrong forms – exactly the kind of issues that lead to rejected applications.
A better way through
The choice is not between expensive full solicitor instruction and risky DIY. Fixed-fee online guidance services – such as those provided by My Probate Partner – give executors structured, Scotland-specific help without the cost of full law firm engagement. They don’t act as your solicitor, but they do provide practical expert support: clarifying whether Confirmation is required, preparing compliant applications, addressing Scottish-only wrinkles (like Bonds of Caution and the small-estate route), and steering around the traps that commonly derail applications. Pricing is typically in the hundreds rather than thousands, which makes this a workable middle ground for many families.
What executors should do now
- Treat AI as a starting point, not a verdict – especially for Scotland-specific matters.
- Cross-check any advice that mentions “probate” against Scottish Confirmation rules. Though the term “probate” is often used to refer to Confirmation in Scotland, many documents on probate relate specifically to processes in Wales and England – and won’t have taken Scottish law into account.
- Be wary of absolute statements about needing a solicitor. In most cases, you do not need solicitor involvement and this will simply lead to unnecessary delays and costs.
- If there is no Will and a Bond of Caution is required, note that only estates worth over £250,000 require a solicitor.
- Consider fixed-fee expert guidance to keep control of costs and minimise delays while avoiding errors.
From search bar to Sheriff Court
Fast, confident answers are tempting – especially when grieving. But in Scottish Confirmation, “confident” is not the same as “correct.” With reliable, affordable guidance available, executors can avoid the costly roadblocks created by generic web pages and overly persuasive AI, moving through the process with more certainty and less stress.
