A standardised process for banks to deal with deceased estates is high on the list of wants for probate professionals in a survey conducted by regulator the Council for Licensed Conveyancers; whose work also covers regulating probate.
A survey of 88 professionals has revealed the vast majority (87%) had experienced discrepancies between different banks as to how much money they would release from a deceased’s estate and to whom. Half of the lawyers surveyed said this happened to them ‘all the time’. Respondents agreed overwhelmingly that a standardised procedure should be put in place across all banking institutions for dealing with probate queries.
Respondents acknowledged the progress being made at the Probate Registry on dealing with backlogs after the COVID-19 pandemic. While there remain issues with the online probate process for complex or technically difficult cases, 83% of respondents said it worked well for straightforward applications. Half (49%) said the average wait for a grant of probate was around four weeks or less, although 40% had experienced longer waiting times.
The recent family court statistics identified the recovery plan put in place by HM Courts and Tribunals Service had reduced the open caseload by 37% over the last 12 months. Grants of probate are now taking three weeks less than the same time last year and over the last 12 month took an average of five weeks to be issued after the application was submitted.
Nearly three quarters of respondents however raised concerns about the implementation of the Law Commission proposals to modernise Will law and introduce electronic signing and witnessing. 72% of professionals said they would be reticent to back the Law Commission’s recommendations to modernise existing legislation unless better safeguards are put in place with concerns the system would be open to abuse.
Stephen Ward, director of strategy and external relations at the CLC said the survey highlighted how efforts to ‘streamline the process’ must be done carefully.
“It would undoubtedly be more convenient and accessible, but it will be vital to address concerns about the potential for fraud and undue influence to ensure security and trust and confidence in the process.”
After the revelation last week more than half of UK adults are unaware marriage revokes a Will it comes as little surprise the survey also identified more could be done to educate consumers on the probate process – a ‘perennial challenge’ added Ward. Nine in ten of the respondents said that consumers they spoke to were largely unaware of what it involved, including the timescales and personal risks. Almost all had advised clients who had got into difficulties trying to navigate the probate process themselves before deciding they needed specialist legal advice.
More than half (58%) said they had acted for clients who had been forced to take out loans to cover inheritance tax bills whilst waiting for probate to be granted, with 77% in favour of extending the 12-month window for inheritance tax share loss relief. Several probate lawyers said they had also had clients who only discovered they had been appointed as an executor after the testator had passed away.
