Co-op Legal Services – Probate Delays After Grant Issued – Anyone Else?

Beckz1205

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone else is having/had major delays with Co-op Legal Services in handling probate?

I’m both executor and beneficiary of my late nan’s estate, and Co-op Legal have been dealing with it. The Grant of Probate was issued on 13th March 2024, and they confirmed they received the copies in their office by 19th March. We also know they had received all the funds from her bank accounts and life insurance policies by the end of March.

Since then, communication has been extremely poor. We’ve had to chase repeatedly for updates. We were told that a cyber attack in April had affected their systems, but were later informed things were more or less “back up and running.” Despite this, we’re still waiting with no clear timeline, and they haven’t responded to our most recent email which was sent over a week ago.

My mum and I are becoming really frustrated – not just because of the delay, but also because this is financially affecting us, and emotionally exhausting. We’re now considering making a formal complaint, though we’ve seen reviews suggesting even complaints go unanswered.

Is anyone else in a similar situation with Co-op Legal Services, particularly around probate? Did you manage to get it resolved, and how? Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks so much.

Keep_pedalling

I am afraid that handing over the probate process to professionals, without exception leads to delays, which is why most of the regulars on here will encourage executors to keep control and do it yourself. 

Time for you to make an official complaint. 

https://www.co-oplegalservices.co.uk/about-us/complaints-procedure/full-complaints-procedure/

Beckz1205

Thank you for your reply. We wish we had done it ourselves now as it’s a fairly simple estate however we felt a bit out of our depth as this is the first time having to deal with anything like this and we were worried about getting messing it up etc. We used the co-op funeral care who were brilliant so expected the same from their legal services. How wrong were we! It just feels like the money is being held hostage at this point now. 

Lilio8

Hello

Yes, their communication after Grant of Probate is poor and the cyber attack seems to be their most plausible excuse. They also have a bad habit of holding onto funds (see the numerous posts on their Facebook page). I can sympathise about the stress and the financial strain as I know exactly what you mean! Their sale pitch is brilliant, it's downhill once the contract is signed. I'm afraid they take advantage of inexperienced executors. I've no idea how they are actually allowed to operate as they do.

racernell

Yes, I'm in a similar position to you. 

My dad died November 2024, without leaving a will. I will be the sole administrator of the estate. Same as you, I used Co-Op Funeral Care for the funeral, had the free legal consult offered and signed up to use Co-Op Legal Services for the probate as I also was feeling overwhelmed at the thought of doing this myself, especially as neither myself or my husband have done anything like this before. 

The Co-Op have had all the information needed to apply for the letters of administration since end of February, and the application still hasn't been submitted. I've only been able to get very slow progress made by chasing by email multiple times a week. 

Additionally, Co-Op were responsible for filing my dad's final self-assessment tax return. They missed the deadline for this, which I only found out when I received a fine from HMRC in March. Due to the cyber attack they've also missed the second deadline. I've had to negotiate extensions for this with HMRC myself, and I'm still chasing the work to be done by Co-Op by the extended deadline of end of this month. 

I've lodged a formal complaint using Co-Op's complaints process. I had an initial response saying they were launching an investigation, and sharing their complaints procedure with me which let me know to expect a response in 21 days. 21 days has long gone, I've chased multiple times and still have nothing. When 8 weeks has passed I can take it to the Legal Ombudsman. 8 weeks will be this Friday, so I'm preparing to take my complaint to them next week. 

How are you getting on with your case now? Have you had any progress? 
I just want to say I understand the frustration and exhaustion you feel, as I feel exactly the same way. This is having a huge toll on me financially, as well as emotionally. It's awful to have to deal with this after losing someone, and I hope you get the money released to you soon if you haven't already. 

I wish I'd done deeper digging on Co-Op Legal Services before contracting them, in retrospect I think I definitely could have done the probate myself, but you just don't know these things at the time.