Probate : 16 weeks and counting

ArGee68

I would question your solicitor about where this information about "being pushed back 2 weeks" is coming from.  Both times when I contacted the probate office, they could only tell me it hadn't been processed or looked at yet and that they couldn't tell me when it would be.    Has your application been part processed and then left?   

Do solicitors have access to more information than us ordinary folk so they see an estimated time when it is expected to be completed by?  The terminology your solicitor uses isn't what I received from the probate office so I wonder if that is what probate is telling them or is their own choice of words.

Maybe it is different for paper applications so has anyone else that has filed a paper application been told their case has been "pushed back"?

lisyloo

oglop said:

ArGee68 said:

oglop said:

oglop said:

i mean, if true, it's insane they haven't been working on older applications first. it honestly feels like i should be due some form of compensation or refund. 37 weeks now...

just got told it will be pushed back another 2 weeks, and there's nothing I can do.

40 weeks, here I come.....

at my very wit's end

I have no words - have they got a personal grudge against you?  Where are you at with your MP because I'm beginning to think that my application was approved because of my MP's involvement, especially the speed with which they issued the paper grants.

It's the same excuse as always - "there's a backlog". But I really don't feel my solicitor is doing enough either. I sent an extremely angry email to her yesterday to complain, but it's all in vain

My MP fobbed me off and told me he sent an email, but he has to wait 20 working days for a response before he can do anything else. Sounds to me like utter nonsense, and that he just can't be bothered to do anything to help

I think I'm going insane 

Does your MP run a surgery or can you get a face to face appointment?
I can get to speak to mine.

oglop

My solicitor wrote "The Grant application was examined on the 6th of April 2023 but has not yet been issued."

She goes onto say that "...the next available time to chase the application..." is in about 2 weeks

I don't know what it means it was examined and not issued, or why there is a specific available time to chase the application 

oglop

lisyloo said:

oglop said:

ArGee68 said:

oglop said:

oglop said:

i mean, if true, it's insane they haven't been working on older applications first. it honestly feels like i should be due some form of compensation or refund. 37 weeks now...

just got told it will be pushed back another 2 weeks, and there's nothing I can do.

40 weeks, here I come.....

at my very wit's end

I have no words - have they got a personal grudge against you?  Where are you at with your MP because I'm beginning to think that my application was approved because of my MP's involvement, especially the speed with which they issued the paper grants.

It's the same excuse as always - "there's a backlog". But I really don't feel my solicitor is doing enough either. I sent an extremely angry email to her yesterday to complain, but it's all in vain

My MP fobbed me off and told me he sent an email, but he has to wait 20 working days for a response before he can do anything else. Sounds to me like utter nonsense, and that he just can't be bothered to do anything to help

I think I'm going insane 

Does your MP run a surgery or can you get a face to face appointment?
I can get to speak to mine.

The last time I emailed him he was very passive aggressive and made it very clear he wasn't going to do anything until the 20 working days were up, and even then it came across like he'd do the bare minimum, only out of necessity. I'll of course chase it up after it's been 20 working days, but I am not getting my hopes up

ArGee68

oglop said:

My solicitor wrote "The Grant application was examined on the 6th of April 2023 but has not yet been issued."

She goes onto say that "...the next available time to chase the application..." is in about 2 weeks

I don't know what it means it was examined and not issued, or why there is a specific available time to chase the application 

Looks like solicitors have access to more information.

At least there is a positive in that your application has been opened/examined.  However it's strange that the grant wasn't issued if they haven't requested further information - can your solicitor explain or give some reasons as to why the grant wasn't issued?

I also don't think your case has been pushed back - the 2 week info appears to be the next time your solicitor can chase which I assume is the equivalent to the 3 week wait garbage I was told.  Hopefully this means probate could be approved at any time.

As you can't contact the probate office, you can only hassle your solicitor so I would want to establish what exactly they have done to chase your application - are they phoning or emailing or just relying on a computer update.   Have they asked probate why the grant wasn't issued when it was examined 2 weeks ago?  

I would ask them for the date, time and method they last contacted the probate office to check they are actually doing their job.

oglop

Well, this also happened a few weeks ago. She phoned the office and was told the case was "in the queue" and would be granted within two weeks. Then, two weeks later, she called again and was told it will be granted "within a week or so". Then, yesterday, was told it will take another two weeks. 

These aren't escalations. In fact, my solicitor was told that it wasn't possible to escalate the case again or it will be "send to the back of the queue". I questioned this, as it didn't seem right, and even the solciitor said it sounded strange as she was advised it is possible for her other cases but she's just going along with the probate office's recomendation. (So why didn't SHE question this with the probate office, hmm?)

Every time I ask about anything that's pretty much what I get: just following the probate office's advice. 

(I do not want to want to email her about the specifics of the latest delay. I already had to send a very, very heated email last night as, out of the blue, I was told I had to suddenly pay 720 pounds for "unoccupied property insurance" - despite it being empty for 9 months already(!) and her knowing that I will rent out the property as soon as probate is granted anyway, which is  hopefully very, very soon. She said it's her duty to look after the property as she has Power of Attorney, and the money will come out of the estate when probate is granted. I specifically told her NOT to take out any insurance, as it's ridiculous, but she insisted she has to as her "duty". After a long back and forth, she finally noted that if I sign a specific document, it will absolve the solicitors of any responsiblity of the house... so why not specify that from the beginning? Why surprise me with a 720 pound bill without explaining anything? Ugh.. sorry, rant over. I just wanted to highlight what I consider to be incompetence. I wonder if my probate would have been granted if I had used different solicitors - even if it was still a paper application.)

tooldle

was that a renewal of policy, rather than an alteration to a current policy? 

oglop

tooldle said:

was that a renewal of policy, rather than an alteration to a current policy? 

For the insurance? No, new insurance policy completely 

BooJewels

@oglop - surely the solicitor taking out insurance on the property is the responsible thing to do - rather better than ringing you and saying "oops, sorry your property was ransacked by squatters and set fire to - so now you don't have a rental property, just a charred building plot".  I suspect you'd be rather less happy with that scenario.  And if it was only £720, I think you maybe got off quite lightly - I paid a chunk more than that for unoccupied property insurance.  Plus if you do decide to sell, in the information for buyers they ask about insurance and if you don't have it, why not.

Who is the solicitor acting as Attorney for - yourself?  As any Power of Attorney for the deceased ceases on death.

Jowwie

Some sort of empty property insurance sounded a good idea to me. I would have expected a solicitor to mention this much earlier.

I paid much less than that for empty property insurance, but it had restrictions such as someone needed to visit the property every few days. I used broker Adrian Flux. Have heard mention that Swinton can arrange.Other brokers are available such as

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/non-standard-home-insurance/