Probate applications reveal continued delays

Probate application delays reveal a continued increase from the start of the year despite a slight decrease from the previous month – decreasing from 15.4 weeks to 15.2, new data from HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has revealed.

For the 27,664 grants of probate issued in October, the average timeline from submission to grant was 15.2 weeks – showing a decrease from September which was 15.4, according to the data.

Despite the slight decrease, this is still an increase from the 13.9 weeks recorded in June this year. The data also continues to remain above the 12-month average of 12.5 weeks.

Of the 27,664 total number of grants issued, 20,068 were digital. For non-stopped applications, the average wait was 10.2 weeks, which shows a small decrease from the month of September which was 10.5 weeks. Yet this is still above the 8.9 week wait in July this year.

For stopped digital applications, delays sat  22.1 weeks in October – a slight increase from the previous month (21.6 weeks). This 22.1 week wait also shows the longest wait for stopped digital applications over the past year and also ties with the same week wait in August.

What’s more, the remaining 7,596 probate grants in July were issued via paper. The average wait between submission and grant for a paper application was 19.8 weeks, down from 21.2 in September For stopped applications, the 28 week wait in October is down from the 31.2 weeks in the previous month, with non-stopped applications going slightly down from a 16.6 week wait in September to a 16.1 week wait in October. Commenting on the data, Ian Bond, Partner at Irwin Mitchell said:

“The 27,664 was the highest grant output in a single month by HMCTS. I’m told by HMCTS that November will be another record output and the third month in a row where number of issued grants will exceed receipts. Further reducing the backlog.

The average wait time for a non-stopped application (from submission to grant issued) is now just over 16 weeks and again told this will likely be under the 16 week average by the end of the year.”