Important Note

ACCA withdrew from probate regulation with effect from 1 January 2022. We are no longer accepting new applications for probate authorisation.

CILEx Regulation pathway

Individuals and firms seeking probate authorisation are invited to register with CILEx Regulation (CRL) for authorisation as a CILEX Practitioner (ACCA-Probate) and to apply for Probate firm regulation as a CILEX-ACCA Probate Entity via a dedicated CRL online portal:

CILEX Regulation ACCA-Probate Regulation - for practitioners and firms ACCA-Probate Regulation - Guidance for individuals and firms

Further information on the new route for ACCA-Probate Regulation is provided on the CRL website, including eligibility, relevant legal qualifications, and application guidance and support. Please read the guidance before accessing the application via MyCRL, in particular the section on ‘How the online application process works’.

Legal Activities Regulations 2018

The Legal Activities Regulations (LARs) 2018 came into force on 1 March 2018 and are contained in the UK annex to the Chartered Certified Accountants’ Global Practising Regulations 2003 in the ACCA Rulebook. Following approval by the Legal Services Board, the LARs were withdrawn effective 1 July 2022.

Probate Courses and Assessments

The following probate courses and assessments are recognised by CRL as a relevant legal qualification under the CILEx Regulation pathway: 

Probate and Estate Administration for Accountants offered by Mercia.

ACCA Probate and Estate Administration Skills offered by BARBRI Altior. Please contact BARBRI Altior for available dates. 

Member Support

Guidance about the probate activities that ACCA-regulated firms can carry out are set out in a suite of Probate factsheets. The suite of factsheets starts with ‘what to do when someone dies’, with others in the suite looking at administration of estates, taxation, calculations, forms required and distributions to beneficiaries. 

The probate factsheets can be requested from supportingpractitioners@accaglobal.com. Please include your membership number, firm and ‘probate factsheets’ in the subject line. Members undertaking work in a personal capacity can obtain extracts from the factsheets and should include their name, membership number and ‘probate factsheets extracts’ in the subject line. 

ACCA has commissioned education support from CILEx on Wills for our probate practitioners. Please view this short video which provides an overview of the opportunity available to you.

Access the education support by registering on the CILEx portal.

After registration, please email the following details to advisory@accaglobal.com in order to activate your registration: First name, Surname, Email, and CILEx Contact Reference No. Find these details on the CILEx portal on the ‘My Details’ page after registration.

Once your registration is activated, please click on ‘CILEX Learn’ in the CILEx portal to access the Wills e-learning. ‘CILEX Learn’ can be found under the ‘My Learning’ orange tab on the left hand side.