A new report has found that the “slow and complicated” estate administration process is increasing the stress, mental health concerns, and financial difficulties of those going through it – and it’s only getting worse.
Exizent’s Annual Bereavement Index for 2022 revealed that 95% of individuals found at least part of the process stressful, with 23% finding it “extremely so”, compared with 94% and 5% respectively in 2021.
This comes despite 70% of legal services firms committing to enhancing their processes for bereavement in 2021.
The mental wellbeing of grieving individuals is also in decline as a result of the process. Last year, 40% of individuals admitted that the process caused them to suffer mental health problems. This number has now risen to a steep 55%.
The costs required to fund the process leaves over a third of individuals in financial difficulty – a pressure, as described in the Bereavement Commission’s long-awaited report last week, as one that significantly adds to the emotional stress of the individual.
Exizent’s data corroborates this, highlighting a direct correlation between financial and mental struggle throughout the process in that, of those who suffer financially, 86% have their mental health negatively impacted. This is seemingly a worsening problem, wth 45% of estates now worse £50,000 or less, up from 40% in 2021.
84% of law firms also admit that their processes for handling estate administration are “slow and complicated”, according to the Index. 90% of practitioners admit that their firm is currently under-resourced to manage these cases and two in five professionals don’t have dedicated probate software to do so.
When asked what would improve their processes, legal services ranked better communications with financial institutions, better ways to locate assets and liabilities and a dedicated software solution as some of the top. They did, however, rank faster responses from HMCTS/HMRC as highest. Financial services also ranked better communications and reducing internal process task times, like verifying accounts, highly.
Legal service institutions may not, however, be the only ones to blame. Rated the top cause of delay for law firms, financial institutions’ processes are called into question and Exizent’s research shows that financial services may agree. A third of these professionals would not be satisfied receiving the level of service their company provides. Considering these professionals manage on average between 500-2499 notifications each year and almost half don’t have a dedicated team for doing so, a lack of specialised focus on estate administration from both stakeholders might actually be to blame for the impact on consumers, say Exizent.
Naturally, issues also stem from probate delays, with one in five cases now taking 7-12 months to complete, 10% of cases taking a year or longer, and 67% of people stating the process took longer than expected. One financial services organisation described probate as “too face-to-face and disjointed”. Another told Exizent:
“With all parties showing frustrations, it is down to the professionals to look to methods that speed up their internal processes and prevent these delays rising. There might also be something to say about setting expectations with notifiers at the start of a case to reduce the concerns they have with the length of the process.”
Increasing occurrences of unknown assets are also taking their toll on the process, with 2022 seeing a 9% increase in individuals who had hidden assets at the start of the estate administration process, meaning almost a quarter of people now don’t have their affairs in order before they die. 40% of assets are therefore discovered during estate administration, and in 5% of cases no assets are known at the start of the process. 55% of people also now possess more than one bank account.
There is also a significant knowledge gap exacerbating issues, with less than 1% knowing a lot about the process and a striking 44% knowing nothing at all. One in five executors also aren’t aware of their status until the testator passes away.
“The evidence is now piled high. Bereaved consumers are too often brushed aside at exactly the time they should be centre stage. The reality is that a worrying number of service providers still do the minimum necessary to support bereaved and vulnerable people,” said Vicky Wilson, co-founder and CEO of end-of-life admin service, Settld, continuing:
“Exizent’s 2022 Bereavement Index, and Settld’s own recent ‘Better Bereavement’ survey, highlight the same issues outlined in last week’s report by the UK Commission on Bereavement.
Too many companies are still falling short of investing in their bereavement tactics, technology and teams. Their lack of empathetic and efficient processes only adds to the stress felt by those who are grieving.
Better Bereavement Standards are long overdue, and, like the Bereavement Commission, we call on regulators and governments to act fast. Settld is working closely with those companies who want to improve their customer experience. Our real hope is that these organisations, which are focusing on improving their service, will encourage more to follow suit.”
Following the loss of a loved one, the last thing individuals need is a lengthy estate administration process that causes them stress both mentally and financially. But sadly, the current structures professional organisations have in place means that this is exactly what they get,” added Nick Cousins, co-founder and CEO of Exizent.
To read the full report, click here.
