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Government Probate/ Will finding service

Hi,
Has anyone used the governments probate / will finding service?

https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

I an dealing with the probate for a relative and know that the spouse's probate was done in 1998. I located the record on this service and paid the £1.50 to access the record. Since then I have heard nothing and when I contacted them they say there are delays.

Does anyone know how long did it takes to get the records?
Thanks
«1

Comments

  • Spacie22
    Spacie22 Posts: 35
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    It used to take about a week but it's very slow at the moment. The price was reduced in July from £10 to £1.50 and every family history enthusiast went a bit crazy ordering wills. I'm still waiting for an order placed 5 weeks ago. (original estimated delivery date was 12th August)
  • The original estimated delivery was 10th August.

    Their customer service responded to a where's my order enquiry after 1 week (not the quoted 2 days) saying

    "We are experiencing very high demand for copies of wills, which means it is taking us significantly longer than usual to provide copies requested via gov.uk. We are sorry for the inconvenience and the frustration that this delay is causing. Please be assured that we have your request and understand how important this is to you."
  • TonyMMM
    TonyMMM Posts: 3,376
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    Many have been waiting longer - be patient, they seem to be overwhelmed by the demand after the price cut.
  • badger09
    badger09 Posts: 11,127
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    Looks like they have got rid of any backlog. I applied 31/8/19 @ 17.50 and Will & Probate available this morning. Excellent service:T.

    Though contents of Will are not what I was expecting:o
  • TonyMMM
    TonyMMM Posts: 3,376
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    badger09 wrote: »
    Looks like they have got rid of any backlog. I applied 31/8/19 @ 17.50 and Will & Probate available this morning. Excellent service:T.

    Though contents of Will are not what I was expecting:o

    Was it a fairly recent will ?
    They are scanned and digitised when probate is applied for, so are easy to send out v quickly.

    The hold-up is with older/historic records which have to be retrieved from store and scanned when ordered.

    Still waiting for mine (ordered 6 weeks ago).
  • badger09
    badger09 Posts: 11,127
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    TonyMMM wrote: »
    Was it a fairly recent will ?
    They are scanned and digitised when probate is applied for, so are easy to send out v quickly.

    The hold-up is with older/historic records which have to be retrieved from store and scanned when ordered.

    Still waiting for mine (ordered 6 weeks ago).

    Probate granted June 2014
  • You were lucky. I applied 26th July and still waiting :-( The probate was granted in 1998

    Not impressed with the service - was told it would be delivered by 10th August!
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698
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    As others have said... at £1.50 a will, suddenly thousands of people have submitted requests for multiple wills!

    They didn't expect that.

    Before, if your great aunt's second husband had left a Will and you could see he left £10k, you'd end it there.... now, for just £1.50 you can see what he had/who he left it too ... so, for £1.50 you have the chance of discovering somebody, or a relationship you never knew about as they name all the children +1 you'd not spotted before, or the married name of a daughter whose marriage you could never work out.
  • Tom99
    Tom99 Posts: 5,371
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    You were lucky. I applied 26th July and still waiting :-( The probate was granted in 1998

    Not impressed with the service - was told it would be delivered by 10th August!
    I have ordered two recently 2nd Sept took 7 days and 9th Sept took 2 days, both with wills.
  • When was probate granted for the each of these? Are they historical?
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