Probate : 16 weeks and counting

oglop

Well it's been 14 days since probate was granted (according to the gov website) and my solicitor still hasn't received the grant of probate from the probate office. And now it's a long weekend which means more delays. This whole process has now taken over 40 weeks. reeeeeeeeee

ArGee68

oglop said:

Well it's been 14 days since probate was granted (according to the gov website) and my solicitor still hasn't received the grant of probate from the probate office. And now it's a long weekend which means more delays. This whole process has now taken over 40 weeks. reeeeeeeeee

The Probate service really must have something against you!   Good news for me is that the banks have now all paid up, even LLoyds.

My MP's office have just forwarded me a letter received from Matt Freer MP, the Minister for Courts and Legal services regarding my complaints about the probate delays.

Most of the letter was just stating already issued public statistics including the claim that only stopped or complex applications or those with errors are delayed beyond 16 weeks.  Most of us know that is garbage. He is claiming less than 17 weeks for paper applications that can be issued at the first attempt (I can see the steam coming out of Oglop's ears as I write this!)

However there was some useful info that may be of interest to those still waiting.  HMCTS is focusing on older paper & more complex applications as a priority and they were upskilling existing staff  in Nov and Dec to support this.  As I had previously posted on here, he has confirmed 100 new staff have been employed between Nov and March to allow existing staff to be upskilled to examine probate applications.

Average wait times to answer phones/chat service have reduced from 60 mins in October to 10 mins in February.  It took only 3 mins for me the last time I called them in April.

Finally, as some of you have already noticed, HMCTS are working on introducing a citizens hub for users to track progress of their online applications.

Hopefully the service will continue to improve for future applicants.

Jowwie

oglop said:

Well it's been 14 days since probate was granted (according to the gov website) and my solicitor still hasn't received the grant of probate from the probate office. And now it's a long weekend which means more delays. This whole process has now taken over 40 weeks. reeeeeeeeee

Think your solicitor needs to chase on that one. I got probate granted email last Friday. Monday was a bank holiday. Our probate certificates arrived first class  post on Wednesday. (Not recorded delivery.)

lisyloo

Jowwie said:

oglop said:

Well it's been 14 days since probate was granted (according to the gov website) and my solicitor still hasn't received the grant of probate from the probate office. And now it's a long weekend which means more delays. This whole process has now taken over 40 weeks. reeeeeeeeee

Think your solicitor needs to chase on that one. I got probate granted email last Friday. Monday was a bank holiday. Our probate certificates arrived first class  post on Wednesday. (Not recorded delivery.)

There’s a massive difference in Royal Mail services across areas.
in some areas it’s day in other areas it’s 10 days or more with some of us getting deliveries about once a week.
the reason given is local staffing issues.

oglop

ArGee: yeah, i think my case has been the peak of delays. typical, that. i also never heard back from my MP ever again, and the email i sent to Mike Freer also went unanswered. but thanks for typing that info- actually quite interesting. even if my case took so long, at least others won't have to go through the ssame thing (whyyyyy me thoughhhh!)

Jowwie: yes, i'm really trying to get her to chase things. i wish i had chosen a different solicitor

lisyloo: i think this is it. also, bank holidays have slowed things down. god. i just want this whole thing finished

ArGee68

oglop said:

ArGee: yeah, i think my case has been the peak of delays. typical, that. i also never heard back from my MP ever again, and the email i sent to Mike Freer also went unanswered. but thanks for typing that info- actually quite interesting. even if my case took so long, at least others won't have to go through the ssame thing (whyyyyy me thoughhhh!)

Jowwie: yes, i'm really trying to get her to chase things. i wish i had chosen a different solicitor

lisyloo: i think this is it. also, bank holidays have slowed things down. god. i just want this whole thing finished

Yes - we also applied just at the wrong time but then everything with this bereavement has been badly timed -  The postmortum was delayed for weeks due to backlog, this delayed registering the death for a month,  funeral was then delayed because the crem was only open mornings due to building works, then the probate delay.   I'm just pleased we seem to be getting to the end and hope that the house sale goes through relatively quickly as that is the last major hurdle.

I also suspect your solicitor may not have been the best in chasing etc. 

I am very impressed with my MP and specifically his case worker who I dealt with.  This is the first time I've ever contacted him and I don't think it's a coincidence that my application was approved less than a week after they chased on my behalf and I got the paper grants within 48 hours of the approval email.  They also still raised the queries with Matt Freer and sent the reply despite knowing probate had been granted.

Unfortunately he is retiring at the next election so I hope his successor is just as good.

BooJewels

oglop said:

[snip]
Jowwie: yes, i'm really trying to get her to chase things. i wish i had chosen a different solicitor
[snip]

For what it's worth, I'm not sure if would have made any difference. 

Between estate properties and house moves, my sister, son and I have done / are doing five lots of conveyancing and had the same sort of problems with all 5 solicitors firms - plus the practices used by the other parties.  They seem to work with a different perception of time to the rest of us.  When we agreed the sale on the estate property I'm currently waiting for Probate on, the EA asked who we were using and we had a conversation about local law firms and she said every one of them was as bad as the other.  She put that down to all the old school solicitors now retiring and youngsters taking over who work to whole different sets of 'modern' standards.  My current solicitor is doing nothing to prove her wrong.

Singlemummy_2

oglop said:

Well it's been 14 days since probate was granted (according to the gov website) and my solicitor still hasn't received the grant of probate from the probate office. And now it's a long weekend which means more delays. This whole process has now taken over 40 weeks. reeeeeeeeee

I would definitely be chasing this. The seller in my situation…their probate was granted w/c 24th April and I received an email yesterday to confirm this and that contract pack had been sent to my solicitor. 

oglop

ArGee. gah. yeah, it sounds like you've had just as much (more?) trouble than me. good luck with the house sale. i can't wait until this is all over, and you must feel the same

BooJewels: you might be right. there's only so much you can do to push a solicitor. although most of the progress i've had with my case is when i have written very angry emails to my solicitor. only then does she properly chase something. it's very frustrating. 

singlemummy_2: i will try again on tuesday, for sure!

BooJewels

Just had my email to say that Probate has been granted.  It would be 8 weeks tomorrow from them acknowledging receipt of the will - so maybe there is something in this 7.5 weeks I've seen mentioned several times - considering that we've had Easter and 2 bank holidays in that period.

I know that it's no consolation to those having a torrid time of it, but might give hope to those still in the process, or about to start.

The buyer sent his builder in to do some measuring for quotes a few days ago, so he's obviously still keen.