If a home was a life estate does it still need to go through probate?

No. A life estate is the right to use the property and is extinguished upon the death of the life tenant. They owned nothing that survives after their death so there is no need for probate unless there are other assets that were in the decedent's name alone. There is someone who owns the "fee" to the property. The life tenant only had the right to use it until they died.