How long should probate take?

[Cileymyrus]

Keeping an eye on the gov website to see when an elderly relative’s will is sorted.

they died in sept, nothing yet, but I see there’s a lot of people who died sept/oct/nov whose probate is through already.

it should be very straightforward, as far as we know there were mirror wills so everything goes to their surviving partner. Fairly sure probate is required because they had separate bank accounts as well as joint ones (from the reading I’ve done probate is only usually not needed if everything is joint?)

what could be holding it up?

My friends DH died in May, she only got around to applying for probate in November. She is not particularly old.

People work to different timescales, maybe a solicitor is doing it, they work much slower! Just over 4months for probate is very quick.

Mil died in July we applied for probate in August.
Told it would take 8 weeks.
But there was a query so another 8 weeks was added on.
After 16 weeks and one day we were told it was approved.
Ended up getting the certificate mid December.

I did my own probate, both Au and UK when my DH died. Simple mirror Wills. A matter of three weeks in Au, bit longer in UK due to need to snail mail things.

A close friend has probate going through in the UK, where a solicitor has been engaged with % of estate as fee, so no incentive to do anything. And they don't. A warning there.

I'd guess that what with postal strikes, probate might be knee deep in applications.

Ah ok thanks everyone :)

so it may just be normal paperwork and delay.

Probate for my mother, simple will, me as sole beneficiary, no debts, no mortgages, nothing, me as next of kin etc etc took from June 2020 to March of 2022.
"Because COVID" etc etc.
I was on several threads here at the time, some posters were getting theirs through in 20 days, others had been waiting longer than me.

My aunt died in march and only got probate the other day.

Applied may 2022, still waiting. That reminds me, I need to call them <again> to see what's happening.

When I first started phoning them (November ish), it was quickly established that in the intervening 6 months, they'd done diddly squat.

Perfectly straightforward mirror will, with a minor complication of a PA11 form (transfers executership from my 86year old mother to me).

Tbh, the mind boggles.

Does anyone know why someone's will might not appear online when it has gone through probate?

I've just closed off an estate which has taken nearly two years to get private and then come back from HMRC (which took even longer than probate).

The solicitor had another return from HMRC the same day which had been with them for over two years.

I've had sight of the chaser mails - the delays were not with the solicitor

Maybe the executors haven't put the form in yet. I took over a year to put my mums form in. I was main beneficiary and didnt see need to rush.

Forms have definitely gone in because the son who has taken over executorship wants to sell the house.

It depends entirely on the complexity and value of the estate. If it's just a few bank accounts, it won't take long. If there are lots of valuations to be obtained I.e. property, investments, business assets, it will take longer.

Assuming the whole estate is bequeathed to a spouse, there won't be any inheritance tax to pay so that won't hold things up.

Why are you so interested if you're not a beneficiary?

Why not ask your relative? Even if they're not dealing with it themselves, their Executor(s) should be keeping them informed.

Can take months

This is the issue.

relative is concerned that they aren’t being told anything. They didn’t even know sibling had replaced the surviving spouse as executor, or that the sibling has done all the POA forms without informing the other two siblings.

i’m on the periphery but getting a lot of frustrated phone calls- if they question the son who’s nominated himself as dealing with it all the communication stops completely, so they’re trying not to rock the boat at the moment.

the concern is for their parent now, as this son now has sole control of all their assets once probate goes through.

ducks in a row and all that.

We're on week 12. Simple ish estate. Was asked for more info at week 4/5.

Is the son a named executor on the will? Only executors can apply for probate.

As part of the application process the executor applying has to confirm they have the right and any other executors have agreed not to apply, and that the applying executor has written to the other executors to confirm they are applying.

A probate application can be stopped if you think something fishy is going on.

I’m currently in this process. The wait in September when I applied was 8 weeks. They then said after the 8 weeks, it had been extended to 16 weeks due to backlog. I’m beyond that now and it’s been “escalated”. It’s a very straightforward case as well. You can do online chat with the probate department and they are helpful. Don’t bother trying to get through on the phone!

Me again.

Has your relative seen the will to confirm they are no longer the executor? Also who are beneficiaries of the will. Once probate is granted the executor has to distribute the assets according to the will. If it's relatives spouse that died, it would be unusal for house to sold (but not impossible).

I think I might have a record here - its been well over a decade since my ex's grandparents died and the estate still hasn't been divided yet! Not UK though, maybe things move faster in the UK or there's easier ways to settle disagreements.

My mum died in mid-November, we appointed a solicitor the week after, and the application for probate is only ready to be submitted this week! Straightforward estate, no debts, will splits everything 50-50 between me and my sister. The solicitor said it can take up to 16 weeks from submitting the application to being granted probate.

Ours took weeks and weeks during lockdown (2021). It's really not helpful when there is property involved.

If probate have a query about ANYTHING, they put a "stop" on the claim (but don't bother telling you).

They will only talk to the executors (fair enough), but it was quite normal to be stuck in a queue for 20-45 minutes (assuming the system doesn't cut you off in the interim). In the end I found it best to contact them using webchat when I spotted it was operating. It meant that I could politely point out when they appeared to have lost a document they said they had in an earlier discussion.

I seem to remember you can't contact probate for the first 8 weeks.

According to probate office
It takes up to 6months
But can take longer up to a year
If it’s simple sale of a house and bank money under the taxable amount it’s very quick
As soon as the tax man gets involved it can take a lot longer
Also if assets are under valued to avoid the tax man, which they do check on ( house prices etc) then it’s definitely longer.

I ve been executor 3 times and none of them took longer than 3 months. But I do know of a case that took over a year. ( just as covid struck though )

PS All of them had wills

A colleague applied in August and is still waiting. Simple estate. Has been advised the office is working on mid-August applications so shouldn't be too long.

Blimey some waits there! 10 years! 😳

to clarify:

spouse was executor and sole beneficiary.

the son is somehow now executor (form pp mentioned?) without involving siblings.

house isn’t part of probate, but I presume son can’t sell it until after probate as the deceased will still be on deeds etc?

house is on SE coast so £££££££.

When my father died I had probate through in five weeks, but his affairs were very straight-forward.

MIL died in May, and due to her house being in FILs name and not hers, probate is now needed for his will as well as hers, and has to be done via paper application and not online, so it may or may not be done some time this century :(