Christmas end to probate delays, says HMCTS

 

Christmas will see the end of the probate delays, HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) reportedly said at a meeting with the Law Society.

 

In a year marked by serious delays for wills and probate lawyers, HMCTS also confirmed that grants are now taking about four weeks to be issued compared to three months or more through much of the year.  

 

It reportedly said the length of the process should decrease to two weeks by Christmas, despite the fact that in October, HMCTS said it expected normal service to resume by the end of November with applications being turned around within 10 working days.

 

The long-standing probate delays, which started in early Spring 2019, were caused by a combination of court closures; the move to an online probate application process – which was then hit by a software problem; and a surge of applications ahead of the expected hike in probate fees in April. 

 

The delays resulted in lengthy delays to estate administrations and property sales. 

 

At one point, to the dismay of the profession, HMCTS partly blamed solicitors for delays citing errors or insufficient information in applications.

 

Meanwhile, HMCTS confirmed all enquiries about probate applications should be made to Birmingham Courts and Tribunal Service Centre (CTSC), the new centralised call handling service. 

 

The CTSC will confirm if the application has been received, where it is being processed and when it expects the grant to be issued.

 

Other information it will be able to provide includes whether a ‘stop’ is in place – and the reasons why. 

 

The Law Society said lawyers no longer have to contact local registries for updates on clients’ applications.

 

The probate CTSC phone number is 0300 303 0648 and is open Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 5pm.