Probate - how long?

MrsPorridge

Applied for probate mid October, granted yesterday.

SteveRowland

The length of time probate takes can vary widely depending on the complexity of the estate, the presence of a valid will, and any disputes or complications.

kipperman

warfield said:

IHT to pay.

Applied online for IHT reference number which was received in about 10 days.

IHT400 and supplementary forms have been posted to HMRC.

Now waiting for HMRC unique probate code from HMRC

Does anyone have any experience of how long HMRC takes to respond?

It was 30 days in our case to get the calculations back. If there is IHT to pay, then once you have paid ( we used direct payment from NS&I) then it is worth a phone call to HMRC - they can issue the SL189 authorisation immediately, and via email. Got it within 5 minutes! In general once you get through, the IHT HMRC staff were helpful and knowledgeable.

pleb99

Excepted estate.

3 March..... paper application sent
4 March.... received and signed for
11 March....email, received application
19 March... probate granted
22 March .. received probate documents.

Pretty quick for a paper application.

Wyndham

Just done it on behalf of my father in law - really quick!
Application submitted 11th March, granted 20th March.
Easy estate, leaving everything to the surviving spouse through the will.

But, everyone we spoke to about it said 'at least 12 weeks', so I think it used to take longer.

MM_IHT

Here is a summary of my timeline, fairly complicated estate with 15 different companies involved and house with joint ownership (no spouse(partner but not married), no children)

• IHT form completed and posted 28th February 2025 - fairly substantial IHT was due so i had arranged payment in parallel by 3 of the companies where money was held.
• IHT Unique code received 18th March 2025
• Online Probate form completed and original Will sent 19th March 2025
• Documents confirmed as received 27th March and 2hrs later approved
• Grant of Probate and copies received in post 29th March 2025

jackieblack

Applied online Saturday 22nd March - no IHT due
Posted the Will on Monday 24th March
Royal Mail tracking showed "delivered and signed for" at Probate Office on Tuesday 25th March
Email stating "HMCTS Probate received documents" received at 11.43 this morning (Wednesday 2nd April)
Email stating "HMCTS approved your probate application" received at 12.15 this afternoon

Fairplayguy

I sent my iht400 forms in 21st Feb,.  letter posted back with probate code from HMRC dated 19th March.. They also sent another letter with details of their calculations. Prior to these they sent back the grant relating to the first spouse's estate that is required for nrb transfer (iht schedule 402)

iht to pay, with transfer of rnrb and nrb.  

Fairplayguy

applied 28th March online, documents' arrival acknowledged on probate website 8th April, grant issued today 9th April

Robert142

Did you do it online?