Probate timeline

[Inspire96]

We have agreed on property which is sold under probate.

The probate has been filed last week by the sellers solictiors

Please could you advise how long the probate would take .

Our buyers of the property need to know the timescale we should aim for exchange.

3 weeks this autumn. Received on the same day that they wrote & said it would take up to 16 weeks. It was a very simple estate though (everything to me from DH).

It really depends how straightforward the estate is and if all relevant information submitted.

Sorry that’s actually ten/eleven days for probate, not 14.

Depends on how complex the estate is and whether IHT needs to be paid. Can't believe the relatives put it on the market but have only just got the probate application number!
DMs probate took nearly 40wks, it was 6months before it was even acknowledged by the probate office, but other less complex estates reported by PP have gone through more promptly. It's almost impossible to contact the probate office to chase probate at all either.
Fingers crossed for March OP

You have to sort out and pay the IHT out before you apply for probate now. So once you have the probate code, that’s all done.

Thanks in then should be straightfoward in 16 weeks?

We were told max 12 wks by solicitors. Ended up being nearly 3 months longer,lost a house sale as it took so long. Still sore about it

If they have had the probate code, meaning IHT forms and payments have already been done, and apply online, it seems possible from what I and others here have experienced.

It’s really quick at the moment for simple estates, took about 2 weeks in December 2024 and my boss did his mums in two weeks this month!

OP is buying a probate house, paying IHT (if any is due) isn't down to her!

Of course OP doesn’t pay IHT, but her question/others’ questions was about the duration of probate and I was explaining that her seller will go through two stages.

That strikes me as very quick. My DF died half way through his sale and it took 3 months.

MIL's property sale took even longer (but HMRC were involved which delayed matters - a LOT).

IHT should be no problem as that liability is known at the outset.

What caused our delays with HMRC was the possibility of MIL having an unpaid income tax liability from before she died.

My brother applied for probate on our father's estate at the beginning of August. It's been about 20 weeks now, so he phoned to chase today. After being on hold for ages, he finally spoke to someone who said they'd escalate it and it would take about 3-4 weeks. About half an hour later, my brother received an email to say things had been approved and the grant of probate would follow in the next ten working days.

Just adding to this thread by way of more information. I applied for probate at the end of January. Simple estate, no IHT due. Property to children and I applied myself online. 4 days to approval! I still have to keep going back to my online account to check that I didn't imagine it.

Dealing with my father's estate was fairly complex with lots of investments etc. He died in April 23, we paid the inheritance tax in November. The lawyer said we would then had to wait 20 days to apply for probate (so basically one month) which he did and then we were granted probate mid February 24 so 6-7 weeks and this was after a query about the value of the house.

We have been told my our agents that probate has been finally filed on 04/feb/25

Please could you let me know how long would the grant probate take

We have agreed on property which is sold under probate.
The probate has been filed and should be straightforward, as per agent, but I will ask my solicitor to fact check.

Please could you advise if i should wait for probate to be granted before survey.

Survey will cost over £700 and I don't want to spend too much before probate granted.

House itself looks pristine and around 90 yrs old and hoping survey should be ok.

My advice is wait until probate is granted. We are still waiting after having our offer accepted in October 2024 with probate 'expected' before Christmas, we had the survey done and the solicitor has done most of the work...6 months on no sign of probate! I don't know why people market their properties before probate is granted. If the estate is IHT free, it could be a lot quicker.

This is so depressing, feeling sorry for your state.
Did your solicitor try and find out why it's taking so long?

Our solicitor has chased but mainly the EA is chasing, to no avail, probate solicitor rarely returns calls/emails. The hold up seems to be with HMRC, the all important 'code' which the solicitors needs to receive in order to actually apply to the probate registry has still not been released by HMRC. I would suggest you ask for the actual date that the probate application was submitted to the probate registry - a friend recently applied for probate on the Friday and received the grant on the Monday (record time!) but there was no IHT which seems to speed things up a bit!

We are ok, staying with family and in the enviable position of being in a great position should another property come on the market while we are waiting...so we keep telling ourselves!

What does complex estate means? Everyone keeps mentioning this but not able to understand the term.

Could be any number of things, properties and assets owned by joint owners are complicated, not being able to get hold of potential beneficiaries, which isnt the estate per se but does make things complicated.

friend is dealing with her late aunt probate, 3 years later and still going on..its complex because: credit card debts, car loans, bailiffs appearing, house equity loans, creditors from a failed business, unpaid rents on storage units.....its endless....!