Probate Timescales Approx?

Phild70

Hi,

I’m interested in hearing from any recent probate application to grant timescales? Simple estate 1 x property, only 3 x exec myself, my brother and mother. My late father passed 6 years ago. Application was submitted last week via Co-op legal who dealt with our case.

Thanks in advance for any advise.
Phil

Dave_5150

GOV.UK state you should expect confirmation of documents within two weeks and the application to take eight weeks.

In reality some people are getting probate approved in a matter of a few weeks whilst others such as me aren't. I'm told complexity of the estate has very little bearing on timescales. 

I will be at week 12 of the estimated eight week process tomorrow. I'm afraid it takes as long as it takes, and their is nothing you can do to speed it up. 

Mrs_Z

Likewise, probate application submitted mid-March.  No acknowledgment yet received, only the death certificate has been returned. Simple estate in question, well below the inheritance tax threshold, one executor (me). 
I've since learned that the notification to the Inland Revenue should be sent 4 weeks before applying to probate.  I sent both at the same time as it wasn't clear to me at the time on the information that I read. 
In my mind there is still confusion about low value estate and excepted estate.  It seems to me that very few would quality for the excepted estate and even for low value estate you still need to fill all the tax forms as one of the conditions states despite what the info below suggest (that most estates are excepted estates): 

When full details are not needed - ‘excepted estates’

You do not have to give full details of an estate’s value if all of the following are true:

• the estate counts as an ‘excepted estate’
• there’s no Inheritance Tax to pay
• you’ve checked that none of the reasons under ‘when you need to send full details of the estate’s value even if no tax is due’ apply

Most estates are excepted estates. (Really??? Surely most people are domiciled in the UK??? See below)

What counts as an excepted estate depends on whether the person died:

• on or after 1 January 2022
• on or before 31 December 2021

When to send full details of the estate’s value even if no tax is due:

• person was ‘deemed domiciled’ in the UK

I wish they had an idiot's flow chart to navigate what needs to be sent. Maybe I'm missing something obvious??

msb1234

I applied early March, simple will, got an email acknowledging receipt of docs 20th April and email saying grant done same day. Got certificates on Friday 22nd. So about 5 weeks all in.

emma203

Mrs_Z said:

Likewise, probate application submitted mid-March.  No acknowledgment yet received, only the death certificate has been returned. Simple estate in question, well below the inheritance tax threshold, one executor (me). 
I've since learned that the notification to the Inland Revenue should be sent 4 weeks before applying to probate.  I sent both at the same time as it wasn't clear to me at the time on the information that I read. 
In my mind there is still confusion about low value estate and excepted estate.  It seems to me that very few would quality for the excepted estate and even for low value estate you still need to fill all the tax forms as one of the conditions states despite what the info below suggest (that most estates are excepted estates): 

When full details are not needed - ‘excepted estates’

You do not have to give full details of an estate’s value if all of the following are true:

• the estate counts as an ‘excepted estate’
• there’s no Inheritance Tax to pay
• you’ve checked that none of the reasons under ‘when you need to send full details of the estate’s value even if no tax is due’ apply

Most estates are excepted estates. (Really??? Surely most people are domiciled in the UK??? See below)

What counts as an excepted estate depends on whether the person died:

• on or after 1 January 2022
• on or before 31 December 2021

When to send full details of the estate’s value even if no tax is due:

• person was ‘deemed domiciled’ in the UK

I wish they had an idiot's flow chart to navigate what needs to be sent. Maybe I'm missing something obvious??

I am at the early stages of preparing for probate and by no means an expert, but I think you have misinterpreted the reference to “deemed domiciled” - the crucial word seems to be “deemed” which  by my reading refers to someone who has lived in the uk for a long time but does not have the legal status as a resident. If someone was legally a uk resident at the time of death, which the majority of people will be, then this restriction therefore doesn’t apply.

 I agree the guidance could be clearer but I think a lot of confusion at the moment is due to the changes in process from 1 January which means two sets of circumstances need to be covered. 

Silentmemory

I've just had mine back today. I also applied mid March. There was no will.

 I applied online myself  as the Co-op wanted a percentage of the estate and I didn't want to let them have any of  it. Application was a very simple process but I checked and rechecked the figures before I submitted it.

The estate was a very simple one with 1 property and savings in two accounts.Total amount nowhere near inheiritance tax sums. I'm an only child and there are no surviving spouses or siblings. 

Like others, I got the acknowledgement of receipt of the death certificate at the same time as the confirmation that it had been granted. They say they will confirm receipt within 2 weeks but they didn't in my case.

Phild70

Thanks for all your feedback, I spoke with Co-op today and they said that it’s all depends on whomever desks it lands on, if they are pro-active or not which isn’t reassuring but some of your 5-6 week timescales are. They also said that the system seems to be that after 4-5 weeks you suddenly get an email confirming your application and then couple of 
hours later the probate grant can get approved super quick.

I’ll keep you posted.
thanks again  

Mrs_Z

Thank you Emma203 for clarifying. This is where I went wrong.  The deceased was a Canadian citizen but was domiciled in the UK, I just didn't appreciate the meaning of 'deemed' (english is not my mother language). Her estate would have counted as an excepted estate. But as I didn't realise this at the time, I filled the IHT400 and sent it to Inland Revenue, they then wrote back to me asking for supporting documents, which I took to mean IHT405, 406, 407 & 409 which I then supplied to them.
I received an acknowledgement from the Probate yesterday saying that they were waiting for the clearance from the Inland Revenue.  What a mess.  Hopefully they can see that it was in fact an excepted estate.