Probate timescales

lisyloo

Any anecdotes on how long probate is taking at the moment?
2 estates both well below IHT threshold. Original wills done by solicitor i.e. have no reason to think they aren’t valid.

greyteam1959

3 to 4 weeks for both my parents who passed away middle of last year.
Both simple estates with only cash assets.

Sarahspangles

Submitted in mid January, email notifying of grant was received after exactly a month and the paper copies arrived in the post four days later.

oglop

mine has taken 33 weeks so far. was supposed to be granted this week, but the probate office said that it will take yet another 3 weeks to be granted. this is the 6th delay now, so i fully expect it to take even longer....

lisyloo

oglop said:

mine has taken 33 weeks so far. was supposed to be granted this week, but the probate office said that it will take yet another 3 weeks to be granted. this is the 6th delay now, so i fully expect it to take even longer....

Do you have an ideas as to why there are delays in your case?
We had delays with MIL in 2020 due to invalid will but for straightforward cases it seems to be quick.

oglop

Paper applications are literally taking about ten times longer than online applications 

KSS1991

14weeks and counting...

snowyday2

I had the misfortune to lose both of my parents in 2022. My mother’s probate application was handled by a lawyer (bad mistake and waste of money) and took 2 months to come through. I did my father’s 7 months later after the bad experience with the lawyer, online. It took 10 weeks.  Both under the IHT threshold, both very simple. The probate office is understaffed and overworked. I tried to chase using webchat a few times and although the people were willing, it was clear that they have no power whatsoever to make any difference to the speed of handling the case. I was told that the case was in a queue and it would handled when it got to the top of the queue.

uknick

lisyloo said:

oglop said:

mine has taken 33 weeks so far. was supposed to be granted this week, but the probate office said that it will take yet another 3 weeks to be granted. this is the 6th delay now, so i fully expect it to take even longer....

Do you have an ideas as to why there are delays in your case?
We had delays with MIL in 2020 due to invalid will but for straightforward cases it seems to be quick.

What delay was there for the invalid will?  Did the process start again for adminstration? 

Jowwie

Approaching 10 weeks so far for me. Still waiting. Online application, no IHT due. All I have so far is the one email essentially saying don't even think about contacting us for 16 weeks. I can't see any way online of tracking any progress.

I dealt with another probate back in 2020. It took around two weeks back then, and that was during lockdown. Since then a lot has apparently been spent on “improving” the service.

I have read many posts of individuals and solicitors venting about the state of the probate process over the last few years. I am surprised there is not more uproar about it. Shocked at what it has become in honesty. We are paying for this service.

The ones suffering the most from these delays are the executors. Ironically also the ones most likely to have been caring the most for their loved ones in their final years. I don't understand why when online, there is a will, estate has been reported under IHT limits, and all executors have done the necessary online that this process takes more than a few weeks.

snowyday2

Oh, and I was told when I chased it that the 16 weeks limit that they promised when I put in the application has now been doubled!