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How to speed up the probate process

The Probate Service is currently experiencing a serious backlog. Justice Minister, Mike Freer said: “The past 12 months have seen the largest volume of probate applications received by the service since 2006.”

As a result, the latest figures (November 2023) showed that the time from submission to grant issue was nearly 16 weeks, and almost 14 weeks from document upload to grant.

Both figures are record highs for the service and have been causing significant delays for many of our clients.

As a result, we want to give you some advice on how to speed up the probate process.

We can’t influence what the Probate Service is doing, but we can certainly make both their job and yours, much more streamlined.

Pre-probate administration

Start by getting a robust understanding of your executor duties early. Then decide whether to administer it yourself or hire a professional.

Begin the probate discussion with your solicitor as soon as possible, preferably right after obtaining the death certificate, as we can then expedite the process.

It may also be worth obtaining multiple death certificates to handle multiple institutions simultaneously.

If possible, you should also collect detailed information about the estate in advance to facilitate a smoother process and an easier discussion with us.

Probate and Inheritance Tax applications

Be aware that taxable estates require more time due to detailed HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) reviews.

As such, you should ensure 100 per cent accuracy in your application forms to avoid delays caused by errors.

You could also multitask during this stage by preparing for asset collection and creditor payments at the same time.

Find yourself a great solicitor

Choose a solicitor who is experienced. Experience usually translates into efficiency.

They should have a nice balance between operational effectiveness, a caring attitude, and a willingness to explain the stages as they go along.

We generally find that a lot of the pressure on our clients’ shoulders seems to disappear when they have had a sit down with one of our team to discuss the probate process.