The reform programme within the probate registry has seen the process go from wholly paper based to almost entirely digital since the introduction of the digital service in 2018, following the mandated use of the digital service in November 2020.
A reform evaluation paper published by the Ministry of Justice provides a range of data on the progress of the reforms and the uptake in digital services.
The probate service was digitalised as part of the HMCTS Reform Programme. Prior to the reform of the probate service, applications were paper based. The reform programme introduced a digital probate service, allowing applicants to complete, submit and view their applications online. It was initially rolled out for some cases from unrepresented applicants in July 2018.
In October 2019, legal professionals were able to use the online service and, from November 2020, they were mandated to do so for a majority of cases. The underlying objective of the digital reform of the probate service was to “create a more accessible, user friendly service that works for everyone, whether they choose to apply online or use paper forms”.
The paper acknowledges some of the challenges the probate registry faced, particularly in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic when delays increased significantly. The centralisation of the service in 2019 contributed to a decrease in the number of experienced staff working in district probate registries. The number of staff working in both district probate registries and the Courts and Tribunal Service Centre has nearly doubled since 2019, from 152 to 276 by March 2025.
It also contributed to a high proportion of cases open for more than 12 months. In cases received between July 2019 and September 2023, the average time taken for a case to complete increased from 67 days to 104 days. This increase in case length was larger for cases submitted via the paper channel. Between January 2024 and January 2025, the proportion of open cases that had been open for a year or more nearly doubled, from 5% to 9%.
Average case lengths have since decreased to 22 days for all applications submitted between January and March 2025.
The latest Family Court Statistics Quarterly indicates there were 39,437 total open probate cases at the end of December 2025. This is similar to the number of open cases at the end of December 2024. The majority of the open caseload is for probate grants (61%), compared to letters of administration (30%) and letters of administration with a will annexed (10%). Open cases for probate decreased from 25,103 in December 2024 to 23,932, down by 5%. 78% (30,659) of the open caseload at the end of December 2025 had been open for less than six months.
A corresponding increase in the number of complaints during the period the delays were at their peak saw 1,681 complaints received between July and September 2023. The probate registry said complaints had reduced by 60% as average case durations and the open caseload have reduced. Around 80% of probate complaints relate to applicants experiencing delays and are disproportionately weighted toward paper applications.
The results are borne out in the latest Family Court Statistics Quarterly which show probate grants took around five weeks (as an average) to be issued after the application was submitted during October to December 2025, down around two weeks on the equivalent quarter in 2024. The number of probate applications was 55,645, similar to the same period in 2024. In 2025 the average time it too for probate grants to be issued fell by 3 weeks to an average of 5 week.
The latest release from the Ministry of Justice shows letters of administration with a will and without a will took around 20 and nine weeks respectively.
Digital take-up continues to rise. Between April and June 2025, 81% of all probate applications from unrepresented applicants and almost all grant of probate applications submitted by legal representatives (95%) were submitted digitally. Of the 55,645 applications for probate grants between October to December 2025, 54,310 were issued in the same period, with 92% of both applications and 94% of these grants issued made digitally, compared to 91% of each in the same quarter in 2024. In the same period there were 69,690 applications made for grants of representation. 55,645 (80%) of these were for probate grants, of which 92% were made digitally.
Probate grants also make up the majority (81%) of all grants issued. In October to December 2025, 59% of the grants issued were applied for by legal professionals and 41% were personal applications. For the 54,310 probate grants issued in the same period, 94% were issued digitally.
During 2025, there were 304,944 applications made for grants of representation, up 2% on 2024. There was a total of 295,418 grants of representation issued, down 10% on 2024. Probate grants made up 81% of all the grants of representation issued in 2025. Annually there were 242,821 applications for probate grants and 239,091 probate grants issued in 2025, up 2% and down 10% respectively from 2024.
