Scottish will where confirmation (probate) has not been necessary

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Can anyonewell versed in Scottish law advise? My Dad died recently and left everything to my Mum. Most of their assets were in joint names so passed automatically to Mum. No inheritance tax is payable because of going to my Mum, but I know we will have to contact HMRC about this. The two small assets in my Dad's sole name are passing to Mum under small estates exemptions applied by the financial institutions involved. In these circumstances, am I right in thinking we don't need to apply for confirmation? (This is Scotland - it's called confirmation there, not probate.) And if so, how would the will end up being published? Is it a legal obligation to make the will available for publication?

Many thanks.

Assets in joint names do not necessarily pass automatically to the survivor.

Was there joint ownership of a house, this is likely to be a determining factor as to whether Confirmation is required in this case.

Why would you have to contact HMRC if no IHT liability?

There is no legal obligation to publish a will, but if Confirmation is required, the will then becomes publicly available.

If there is a house, it will depend how the title was taken. If it was owned equally between them and to the survivor which would be most likely for a married couple you won’t need confirmation. No need to publish the will.

There's no issue about the house. That's all sorted out and it did pass automatically to my mum as the survivor. I can't remember now but I did look up the wording required for this in Scotland and it's what was in their deeds.

We do have to be in touch with HMRC but possibly it's not for IHT. I'm losing track of the all the different bits of bureaucracy! They want to know if Dad under or over paid tax on his income for the year, which is relatively simple to sort out.

As above, if house ownership passed outwith the estate as a result of a survivorship clause in the title, then looks like confirmation not required.

That's what I was hoping!