Probate : 16 weeks and counting

waiting4probate

Hello !

My father sadly passed away last October, and I made the probate application in November. I waited for the minimum 8 weeks to contact probate service, by which time they had changed it to minimum 16 weeks so I haven't actually phoned them yet.

The probate itself is pretty straightforward - a current account, a savings account, a bungalow plus personal possessions. Total estate below IHT threshold (even without main residence allowance).

Is this a normal length of time to wait? If feels like forever - I just want to get everything sorted out and move on.

The only slight complication I can think of is that Mum's name was still on the deeds and she passed away 6 years ago. Is this likely to delay things?

Thanks !!

Sarahspangles

Did you apply online or by post?

waiting4probate

Online

(I have to type more here because the post is too short)

Sarahspangles

The average turn round time from submission to grant for a digital application that had been ‘stopped’ was 18.6 weeks in January.  It’s likely it has been stopped (for checks/queries) as the ave turn round for unstopped applications was 4.5 weeks, so you’d probably have heard by now.  HMCTS publish these statistics, there’s been a slight dip in performance which is probably why they’ve switched to allowing chasing after 16 weeks to allow staff to concentrate on doing rather than updating.

I don’t think they check stuff like Land Registry but could be wrong - one of the wiser heads may know what may cause an application to take longer. 

waiting4probate

Sarahspangles said:

The average turn round time from submission to grant for a digital application that had been ‘stopped’ was 18.6 weeks in January.  It’s likely it has been stopped (for checks/queries) as the ave turn round for unstopped applications was 4.5 weeks, so you’d probably have heard by now.  HMCTS publish these statistics, there’s been a slight dip in performance which is probably why they’ve switched to allowing chasing after 16 weeks to allow staff to concentrate on doing rather than updating.

I don’t think they check stuff like Land Registry but could be wrong - one of the wiser heads may know what may cause an application to take longer. 

Thank you Sarah

I would have thought if it had been "stopped" they would let the Executors know, but I've never done this before (and probably won't again).

Sarahspangles

I know some people have mentioned they’ve been contacted with questions or to request more documents but in other cases it’s unclear what was holding it up.  Did they acknowledge that they had received the Will?  This seems to be happening only some of the time, but when it does is a reassurance that nothing has gone astray in the post.

lisyloo

waiting4probate said:

Online

(I have to type more here because the post is too short)

what does your online account say about the status of the application?

GaleSF63

waiting4probate said:

Online

(I have to type more here because the post is too short)

It needs to be 10 characters minimum so easiest way is just add a few full stops to get it to 10.

oglop

I've been waiting 35 weeks now...

handful

This fills me with dread! We are about 4-5 weeks into a probate application, completed online by a specialist accountant. No indication that there will be a delay of course but reading about lengthy delays is frustrating!

oglop

Just keeps getting pushed back further. The probate office keeps delaying, despite telling my solicitor "no more delays. pinky promise this time" and here I am, 35 weeks and 6 delays later. still waiting. There's no recourse, either. You can escalate your file after 16 weeks, but that doesn't mean anything if every other person does the same thing. So, so, so frustrated with it all