To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average time taken for His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to process probate applications.
Answered on
11 April 2023
Despite record level of receipts in 2022 the average length of time taken for a grant of probate following receipt of the documents required has been maintained at 6 weeks.
8.8% of Probate applications exceeded 16 weeks processing time following receipt of the documents required. Cases can be delayed where more information is needed from the applicant, an application to stop a case from an interested party is in place or where cases are complex.
HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand following an increased number of estates requiring probate and is further increasing resourcing to further bring down overall timeliness on digital and paper applications.
Average waiting times for probate grants, up to December 2022, are routinely published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly.