Probate grants turned around on average in 5 weeks say Probate Registry

The Probate Registry is currently taking an average of five week to issue a grant after the application has been submitted; around twice as quick as the same period a year ago. 

During January to March 2025 probate grants took around half them time they did in the same period in 2024, when the average turnaround was around 11 weeks. The first quarter of this year saw 65,099 applications for probate grants; 64,595 probate grants were issued in the same period. 93% of both applications and grants issued were made digitally, compared to 92% and 93% respectively in the same quarter in 2024.

The data comes from the latest Family Court Statistics Quarterly covering January to March 2025 published this week which shows the recovery plan in probate, in place since August 2023, has yielded fruit. The focus on upskilling staff to tackle the open caseload has resulted in a near 50% fall in the number of open cases; 35,475 total open probate cases at the end of March 2025 compared with 69,017 at the end of March 2024. The majority of the open caseload is for probate grants (68%), compared to letters of administration (25%) and letters of administration with a will annexed (7%). 79% (28,048) of the open caseload at the end of March 2025 had been open for less than six months say the Probate Registry.

93% of the 65,099 applications made for probate grants during the period were made digitally, with a similar number (64,595) of probate grants issues digitally. Letters of administration with a will and without a will took around 16 and 9 weeks respectively.

The result of which is, when compared to July to September 2019, the average time for grants of representations to be issued from application for letters of administration with a will annexed has fallen 4%; and closer to 40% from its peak in the middle of last year. Letters of administration has fallen 16%, probate 80% and all grants by 100%.