Uncle dead - no will

An uncle of a friend has passed away. No spouse or children. No will made. The deceased just has a bank account with around 60k. No property or other assets to my knowledge. Has nieces and nephews, one of which was next of kin. How will the next of kin manage this bank account. Do they need a solicitors letter or will the death cert suffice to access the funds ? Is probate needed ?

The domestic banks all have bereavement support teams - give them a call and they will talk you through the process.

Generally funds can be released (to a limit) on receipt of an indemnity, without a grant of probate.

Excuse my lack of knowledge but what is an indemnity and what happens to funds over any limit ?

Firstly, if he's died without a will, the the succession act applies. Presuming his parents are also dead, then this money will be split evenly between nephews and nieces.

Yes, to fully access the funds you will likely need to go through the probate process as his bank accounts are >25k - this gives the right to both access the money and distribute it in accordance with the succession act, after expenses (e.g. funeral) are paid off his estate. As Sarenco says it's likely the bank will allow some of the funds can be accessed to pay off bills that need paying.

Task 1 is establishing the assets held - ie with which institutions, which account numbers and how much is in each - the bank can help your friend with this - they will have to prove their own identity and evidence of next of kin. Again it depends how orderly the uncle has left this information - some leave a nice list of a few accounts, and for some the next of kin has to be Sherlock Holmes.

This is needed to apply for probate, either with a solicitor, or it's possible for your friend to do the process (especially if the assets are very simple) - there's lots of threads in here about the pros and cons of doing it yourself.

After probate, they can access the funds, pay off anything that needs paying and distribute the remaining assets.

Firstly, did he have a solicitor of his own who can manage the probate process? If not then the family will need to find a solicitor to do so.

This is going to be a lengthy process, it's not just probate but as part of that, tax clearance will also be needed. I dealt with a similar situation 20 years ago with I think 18 beneficiaries and a lot of the estate went on legal costs so the inheritance is likely to be small.

Note, all of his nieces and nephews are likely to be "next of kin" so they may also need to get together and agree who is going to lead the process from the family side