At my wits end with Probate Service

orange-sox

Just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced similar with HMCTS recently? 

Application for probate submitted end Feb 22, Probate Granted 07/04/2022 - great says she, we can move forward with the sale of my late mums property. How wrong was I? I still haven’t received the Grant and copies in the post, chased it at 17 working days later - once again timescale quoted was double that on the email. Told to ring back at 20 days post, requested to speak to supervisor who reassured me she would ensure that the grants would be reissued and posted out on 05/05/22. 

The damned things still haven’t arrived. I’m truly at my wits end with it and don’t know what to do now - I have a buyer for the house who’s going to start getting cold feet if I’m not careful, and the timeline for when council tax and such will then become due on the unoccupied property starts the day probate is granted so we’re already a month in. 

warfield

Strange...

After enduring multiple cycles of waiting 8 weeks to get responses I have also been at my wits end with the Probate Service but miraculously I recently received the email stating HMCTS approved your probate application and that I would receive the grant within 10 working days and then double miraculously the copies of the grant of probate arrived in just 2 days following the email notification!

When I submitted the original probate application I paid for 5 additional copies and so 6 copies of the grant of probate arrived in a plain brown A5 sized envelope sent normal delivery with minimal franking and return address of HMCTS Probate on the back of the envelope. I mention this in case it is helpful in some way.

Is it possible that your grant of probate is lost in the post?

On the probate website my application status still shows as submitted several days after receiving notification that probate is approved and if I search for the public probate record it is not available yet. Is your grant available when searching https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate?

orange-sox

warfield said:

Strange...

After enduring multiple cycles of waiting 8 weeks to get responses I have also been at my wits end with the Probate Service but miraculously I recently received the email stating HMCTS approved your probate application and that I would receive the grant within 10 working days and then double miraculously the copies of the grant of probate arrived in just 2 days following the email notification!

When I submitted the original probate application I paid for 5 additional copies and so 6 copies of the grant of probate arrived in a plain brown A5 sized envelope sent normal delivery with minimal franking and return address of HMCTS Probate on the back of the envelope. I mention this in case it is helpful in some way.

Is it possible that your grant of probate is lost in the post?

On the probate website my application status still shows as submitted several days after receiving notification that probate is approved and if I search for the public probate record it is not available yet. Is your grant available when searching https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate?

Yes I think the first copies are lost. But for the second lot to also not arrive is just plain odd.
I feel like I’m going to have to ring and insist that they’re posted special delivery if they need to go out for a third time. 

The grant is available when searching, funnily enough I checked that before I rang to chase the first time incase I was fobbed off with “oh the email was wrong it’s not been granted”. Application still states “submitted” though… should it change to “granted”? 

DJGill

my recent experience was application to grant just under 5 weeks and grants arrived in the post after 2/3 days. This was for death in March 2022.

Flugelhorn

Just worth checking - OK so four years ago I applied for probate, quickly granted and dispatched .... a plastic bag with a Royal Mail label arrived in the post + a note from RM. 

Inside was a blank envelope containing grants of probate, with death cert and copy of will attached - they had forgotten to address the envelope and RM had opened it to see if there was an address (thank goodness) 

Pennylane

Flugelhorn said:

Just worth checking - OK so four years ago I applied for probate, quickly granted and dispatched .... a plastic bag with a Royal Mail label arrived in the post + a note from RM. 

Inside was a blank envelope containing grants of probate, with death cert and copy of will attached - they had forgotten to address the envelope and RM had opened it to see if there was an address (thank goodness) 

that doesn’t surprise me in the least.   The whole probate service needs one massive shake up and not before time.

While they are doing that they also need to look at the laws surrounding probate because anybody can put a caveat on an application for the ridiculous amount of  £3 which stops the whole process and they do not even have to state WHY they are doing this. The Probate Office just stick it on and nothing moves at all. 

74jax

I posted on here too about the service. The probate office recieved my documents, signed for them, scanned them in, had them on mams file, then lost the original.... And let me know they couldn't progress without the documents - they had the originals!
The service really needs a good strip down and reorganisation. 

orange-sox

It’s scandalous; their whole attitude to it is to make the (usually) recently bereaved person who has applied for Probate feel like they’re being unreasonable and almost grabby for wanting to get this part of the legal process completed so they can move forward with the situation and their grief. 

It’s just another level of stress and trauma that I could well do without having suddenly lost a seemingly fit and healthy parent in their early 60’s. 

Rusty190

I'm just asking this to be helpful but, do they have your correct address ie. you will, I'm sure, have given them the correct address but have you checked that that is the actual address to which they are posting your documents?
I received mine recently.
The envelope was flapping in the wind as it was sealed down with about 1cm of adhesive in one corner.
Shocking really when you consider how important these documents are.

orange-sox

Rusty190 said:

I'm just asking this to be helpful but, do they have your correct address ie. you will, I'm sure, have given them the correct address but have you checked that that is the actual address to which they are posting your documents?
I received mine recently.
The envelope was flapping in the wind as it was sealed down with about 1cm of adhesive in one corner.
Shocking really when you consider how important these documents are.

Totally valid question. Yes I double checked this with them; they’ve also returned some documents to me at the correct address that were required to be submitted alongside the will. 

It greatly concerns me how incompetent they are. 

warfield

orange-sox said:

It greatly concerns me how incompetent they are. 

Following an email exchange that started from the probate web chat service I received a worrying email reply to my earlier email...

"We are unable to locate your probate application reference number that you have provided on our system. Could you please therefore advised how did you submit your application. Was it online or by post. Regards, CTSC Probate Query"

Not withstanding that the email contained a long conversation thread where the first original email was stared by CTSC Probate Query becuase they emailed me first and the subject of the email WAS the probate application reference number which was correct.