How long is probate grant taking currently?

[RosaMoline]

(Have also posted this in money matters, but no responses. Thought I’d have more luck here)

Thank you for any advice!
Forms sent 9 August (my brother is executor)
no IHT forms/to pay - joint estate (dad passed January 2022, mum in May this year) - estate will be under a million.
Just me and my brother - apart from a few personal items, a straightforward 50/50 split of Monetary assets (property, savings etc)
I am hoping that once probate’s granted, my bro can pay me an interim payment as I desperately need a new car (is this ok as long as some money is held back for any liabilities/bills??)
Any advice or recent experience, thank you!! ☺️

@RosaMoline the first one I did , I'm 2023x , it took 20 weeks , after they lost the paper work and had to get my MP involved to write to them . It was honestly a nightmare . After the MP stepped they suddenly issued the grant .

This one has been a breeze .

My DD is buying a flat that is going through probate. It’s been 11 months so far, all searches etc were complete by three months so the extended wait is only due to probate.

Done in 10 days and the text message to say it was complete was sent on a Sunday :-)

We did my grandMIL's in 2021 and it took 5 months - I was genuinely surprised to see yours did two weeks. I'm likely to have to do it again in the near future unfortunately, so it's good to know it's not as slow now!

Last year I had to wait about seven months or so to get probate for my DH. Simplest possible will and so no IHT as a spouse.

If things have improved then its about time but don't hold your breath.

I'm surprised you are not joint executors? Also you don't need probate to give an advance on the estate. If the will splits the estate between the two of you and there is no IHT what is blocking the advance payment?

It’s been sorted now, thank you.

Also, that is not correct. The bank will not release funds from the deceased’s account without rye grant of probate.

As executor you can distribute funds. I've done it as an executor for several estates. You need the death cert and evidence of being executor - can't recall if I had to supply evidence of application for probate.

Typical use case would be paying bills or distributing small bequests eg money for younger relatives.

I just got probate through for my dad. Submitted on November 1, sent the will the next day, got the email approving it on Tuesday and the hard copies yesterday. Very straightforward.

Had your daughter's vendors actually submitted the probate application to the probate office when they put the property on the market? Or were they still at the stage of information gathering and valuing assets? If the application has been with the probate office for 11 months it sounds like there is a serious problem somewhere, but more likely they jumped the gun by putting the flat up for sale before they really should have done.

The probate office processing time is only the very final part of the process. What can really take time, and depends on the time and energy of the executors, is getting together all the information to fill in the forms to submit to HMRC (which you have to do even if IHT is not due) and then the probate office - getting houses and possessions valued, contacting all financial institutions for valuations, working out what gifts the deceased had made and so on.

For various reasons it took me more than two years to get probate for my father, but that delay was on my side as sole executor also dealing with a dying mother, other family crises, my own cancer and my father's complicated and badly-documented finances. The probate office itself turned the application round in less than a month once the solicitor and I had all the information to get the forms done.

It varies bank to bank, for smaller amounts they may release the funds without sight of the grant of probate so then advance payments can be made to the beneficiaries but if it exceeds their limit usually around the 20/25k mark you have to have it.

Depends on the amount. Barclays transferred 40k from my Dad's account and closed it with nothing but a death certificate.

It depends on the financial institution. We have had various payouts from £103.75 to £45,000. We are just waiting for payouts from the remaining banks and stocks and shares that wanted probate .

The paperwork is insane , forms , identifications that need certified . When you have multiple executors all over the country it's a bit of a nightmare .

Once this estate is tied up , although won't be while due to a house sale , I won't be doing executor work again . It's too much to coordinate. Not helped that I'm not even the executor 3 family members are and I'm doing it as favour .

I do this for a living and it's very different to do working for lawyers firm that do it and doing the paper work for someone you know .

I normally just send the paper work off at work .. and then forget about it as another person deals with adtermath