Father in Laws Death

My father in law passed away recently and left his wife as sole beneficiary (after some charitable donations and one payment to his son).
He had various stocks/shares, loan investments, joint accounts, and jointly owned property with his wife - Assets approx £70K and joint property about £100K - We have sent letters requesting up to date vales.

1) As his wife is sole beneficiary, do we still need to go through probate?

2) Do we need to open a new bank account for estate?

3) Do we need to list personal items such as stamp album, rings, coins which are probably worth only £200 or so in total?

4) is there a particulatr format for listing estate and chattels?

Kind regards,
Terry