Probate : 16 weeks and counting

Dave_5150

Jowwie said:

Might also be possible to raise a complaint?
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-courts-and-tribunals-service/about/complaints-procedure
Maybe even to sue MoJ for compensation but that could be expensive for an individual.
Mike Freer is the parliamentary undersecretary of state. I think HMCTS falls under his jurisdiction. Perhaps he needs a few letters from the public.

They didn't acknowledge, or reply to my complaint last year. Ironically my complaint was in part about them not ackowledging or replying to my previous emails.

ArGee68

Just to clarify - our delay is not due to any errors or requests for information.   Our case is still unopened by the probate office from when we filed it in November, with the exception of the will being scanned in.  It's just as if they have thrown it onto a pile and left it to gather dust for 16 weeks.

Yes - they do state probate may take longer than 16 weeks if you need to provide more information but to quote the person I spoke to at the probate office "we can't have put a stop on it because no one has even looked at it yet".   

Thank you all for various recourse suggestions.  I have emailed my MP today for what it's worth - at least it made me feel better to complain to someone.

 

junebaby

We hadn’t heard anything for 16 weeks. Rang and they said they would escalate it. Rang again at 17 weeks and was told the office we had sent it to (Harlow) was really busy so it had been forwarded to London. Within 10 minutes of the phone call I received an email asking for more information which I sent the next day. 

We are now a further week on and I chased it again to be told it had been escalated again and to call back in 3 weeks!!

How can they run a service this way. Unbelievable. 

oglop

For my case, it took them 16 weeks to even be scanned into the system and it's been over 18 weeks since then. So, about 35 weeks total. I'm still waiting. Next week will mark the end of the 3 week delay in which they absolutely promised it would be completed. However, this is also the 6th time I've heard that...

handful

Not relevant to some of the cases above due to my application being completed online and by a professional but he has just informed me that he is expecting hard copies of the grant of probate by next week at the latest and the application was done around 4 weeks ago. This was for an estate worth circa £800k with over £100k of IHT paid. I'm assuming he has either been told this or is able to track it somewhere. Much quicker than I was expecting!

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Jowwie

Congratulations handful if it proves to be true.

Perhaps the queue is shorter for the professional applications via MyHMCTS than it is for individuals using the web based apply for probate service. I don't think the published performance stats make a distinction between the two online routes.

oglop

I got an update today for my case. It's now been 35 weeks. An escalation was raised 3 weeks ago, in which the probate office absolutely promised it would be processed within 3 weeks. It is now three weeks later, and the probate office said it is not processed, they have no idea when it will be processed, that I just have to "wait it out", and that it's impossible to escalate the case further, as it will just push it to the back of the escalation pile. I am at my wit's end. What can I do? 9 months with absolutely zero progress... For a very simple, very basic probate case. This is costing me so, so much money and stress...

Any advice?

lisyloo

Engage with your MP?

Do you need to restructure debt if it's costing you money?
or tell some people they aren't getting paid until the estate is settled?
What is costing you money?

ArGee68

Oglop - I cannot believe the way your application has been disregarded by the probate office.  You have now basically been told to stop chasing or you will be put back to the bottom of the waiting pile which is an absolute disgrace after 35 weeks.

What is worse is that it is a simple estate filed by a solicitor so no errors should be expected.  It would probably take them 10 minutes to approve it if someone could be bothered to look at it.

I have just read an update on probate delays on a solicitors website and it is depressing reading.    In January 2023, 26.5K new applications were received but only 20K grants were issued so that added another 6.5K to the dust pile in just one month.  Unfortunately it is much worse for paper applicants as you are well aware.   The system is not fit for purpose, apparently lots of experienced staff have left and the service can't cope.    The person I spoke to on the phone sounded utterly demoralised.

I have been trying to think of something we can do to get things moving for all of us in the "gathering dust pile".  I am still waiting for a reply from my MP but perhaps you could contact yours?  I know you are not in the UK but could you complain to the MP of the deceased as it is their probate case?

This issue needs to be more widely publicised so I wondered about trying to get the press interested - possibly Panorama, Martin Lewis etc.  because there are significant financial implications as well as emotional ones because of the delays.  However, I have no idea how you do that.

oglop

lisyloo said:

Engage with your MP?

Do you need to restructure debt if it's costing you money?
or tell some people they aren't getting paid until the estate is settled?
What is costing you money?

I was originally told that it would "definitely" be granted by October. I started to refurbish my late dad's house and now owe money to the builders who did it. Luckily, they are family friends, but I still owe them and feel terrible about it. I also can't finish up or rent out the property until probate has been granted. It's been a complete !!!!!! show all round 

Edit: I will also add I am losing whatever interest I could make from the money in my dad's bank account. I can't access it, can't put it into a savings account.