Long probate delays causing stress to grieving families, lawyers warn

Probate delays are causing stress, disruption and emotional distress for bereaved families trying to unlock loved ones’ finances, lawyers warn.

Filing for probate is an essential step in taking control of an estate after someone dies, and law firms say home sales can collapse and investments can become volatile in the process, increasing the pressure on waiting families.

Viewing bank accounts, settling debts and arranging legacies can also be on hold for months, they say.

The probate service is run by HM Courts and Tribunals Service, although controversially some work, such as scanning of wills, has been outsourced.

The latest official figures show that the average waiting time for both paper and digital applications from filing to probate was 10.6 weeks in February, compared to 11 weeks the previous month.

Running the entire process online is faster at 7.5 weeks compared to 8.4 weeks in January.

But lawyers report seeing a delay of five or six months, with one saying she is struggling to solve a complicated case that has been stuck in the probate process for a year so far.

> How to avoid probate delays: find tips below to avoid common problems

Long delays ‘tiring for grieving families’

“Pre-Covid, if probate had not been granted, we would contact HMCTS after just 10 days,” said Fiona Dodd, private client partner at law firm Mayo Wynne Baxter.

“Now, however, there’s a 16-week purdah where we can’t chase the registry to find out what’s happening with an application.”

She says probate delays are causing “enormous disruption and emotional distress for bereaved families,” with court queues driving buyers away from home sales and investments losing value amid stock market volatility since Ukraine’s war.

“These long delays are exhausting for grieving families, who are already going through a difficult time coming to terms with their loss and trying to deal with the complex administration surrounding the death of a loved one. They are left in the dark.’

Dodd also says: ‘It’s a wait and see game really – there’s no shortcut or way to avoid the delays in applying for probate.

“While these types of applications are daily bread and butter for probate practitioners, legal teams across the country are experiencing the same problem.”

She adds: “In recent months, we have seen clients miss out on property sales because buyers have been unwilling to put up with the long waits for a probate to be granted.”

Lawyers and licensed probate firms ‘should be trusted to scan wills’

Jade Gani, chief executive of Circe Law and director of Solicitors for the Elderly, told us, “I’ve had one case open for a year, it’s a complicated case. We hunted and hunted and I even switched companies and I’m still hunting it.’

She says probate used to be granted in two weeks or even a week, but the average wait she sees is now 20 weeks, which is “hugely stressful” for families.

Gani says delays are often caused by “stops” in the process caused by human error and something that is overlooked when wills are scanned.

She believes that if the government wants to save money on scanning wills and do it more efficiently, it should establish a “green list” of lawyers and licensed probate specialists who are allowed to upload the documents.

Ben Bell, government affairs manager at the STEP body of probate professionals, says: ‘Delays in probate can be extremely stressful for grieving families who may depend on probate to access funds, dividends, rental income or to sell a home. that is left to them. by someone who has died.

“In some more complex cases, grieving families wait up to six months for probate to be granted and this causes serious financial problems.

HM Courts and Tribunal Service is reforming the way professional users can apply for probate, including improvements to response times.

“STEP welcomes the additional resources allocated to HMCTS staffing, but it is concerning that improvements to easement timelines are not yet being implemented, causing unnecessary frustration and distress.”

Easement calls could be ‘put on hold for 45 minutes to an hour’

Jo Summers, partner at law firm Jurit and a member of STEP, says: ‘It is clear that HMCTS have tried to do what they can, by recruiting and training additional staff.

“However, we are still seeing significant delays, especially for applications that cannot be made online.

‘It is also a struggle to get through to the inheritance registration and being put on hold for 45 minutes to an hour is not unusual. It is understandable that grieving families are frustrated with the entire system. They don’t need the extra suffering caused by these delays.’

Summers says you can act ahead of time to prevent your loved ones from waiting months for the after-probate money, and one option is to nominate who to pass your insurance policies or death benefits to.

“This clarifies who should receive those funds and there is no need for probate as the funds pass directly from the insurance company.”

Summers adds that you can consider a joint bank account because it won’t freeze if one of the account holders dies.

“When someone dies, all the only accounts in his name are blocked. The account can still receive payments, such as dividends or rent payments, but family members cannot access those funds until probate is granted.”

What is the government saying?

Monthly figures inheritance waiting times are published here, and see the box to the right for trends over the past year.

However, HM Courts and Tribunals Service points out that the waiting time in the three months to December – an average over several months added together – was lower by seven weeks.

“The death rate has been significantly higher since 2020, driving up the number of probate applications, but the vast majority of applications are processed within seven weeks on average – almost a week faster than a year ago – and we have hired more staff to meet the rising demand to comply,” a spokesman said.

More than 90 percent of inheritance law applications are completed digitally, which is faster than on paper. Meanwhile, probate cannot be granted until the estate tax has been settled with HMRC, which can also cause delays.

Waiting information includes applications that had to be stopped due to errors on the form or missing documents such as the Inheritance Tax form or the original will.