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Spring\u2011cleaning finances during your lifetime can significantly ease delays laterAlamy<\/p>\nThe number of families waiting more than 12 months for probate has almost tripled in five years as experts warn that inheritance tax changes could make delays worse. <\/p>\n
Ministry of Justice figures for England and Wales show that 2,040 cases took more than a year to be granted in the 12 months to April 2025, up from 737 in 2020-21. Scotland and Northern Ireland have a different system. <\/p>\n
A grant of probate is a legal document required to deal with someone\u2019s estate after they die. The application should take up to 16 weeks, according to government guidance, but delays within the HM Courts and Tribunals Service have led to many cases taking much longer. <\/p>\n
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Figures obtained through freedom of information requests by the advice firm Quilter found that 203 cases had taken between 21 and 23 months to complete in 2024-25, up from 88 in 2020-2021.<\/p>\n
Until probate is granted, bank accounts and assets \u2014 including a main home \u2014 in the sole name of a deceased person are frozen and cannot be sold. <\/p>\n
Delays can incur high costs for families who need the money to pay off inheritance tax bills. Inheritance tax must be paid six months from the end of the month in which the person died, before it begins to incur interest. HM Revenue & Customs charges interest of 7.75 per cent on late payments.<\/p>\n
Ian Futcher from Quilter said: \u201cLong delays can leave families facing unnecessary costs at an already difficult time.\u00a0A \u00a3100,000 bill racks up about \u00a3645 a month. Those costs fall directly on the estate, so every month of delay reduces what beneficiaries receive even when the hold\u2011up is entirely outside their control.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spring\u2011cleaning finances during your lifetime can significantly ease delays laterAlamy<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Justice figures showed that 9,480 cases took more than six months to clear in 2024-25. The delays within the probate system are partially a hangover from Covid, as the rise in deaths and Covid restrictions put a strain on the system and led to a backlog of thousands of cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ministry noted that the data didn\u2019t capture the fact that there were more grants issued in later tax years, and that the number of probate cases older than 12 months was decreasing. <\/p>\n
It also said that the number of open probate cases at the end of September 2025 was 38,205, down from 45,467 a year before. <\/p>\n
The MoJ said: \u201cWe have worked hard to reduce waiting times for probate applicants, including through staff training and improving how applications are processed, which has resulted in record numbers of grants being issued over the last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost probate applications are now granted within five weeks, down two weeks on a year earlier \u2014 but we understand how distressing delays can be in some cases. Applicants who feel their cases are not progressing can request an appointment with the probate team.\u201d<\/p>\n