STEP welcomes probate delay response

STEP, the professional body for trust and estate practitioners, has welcomed the government’s response to probate concerns and commitment to tackle probate delays. According to the latest figures, probate waiting times have halved but 2,171 bereaved families are still waiting over a year for probate to be granted.

Sarah Sackman MP KC (pictured), the Minister responsible for HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), recently responded to the House of Commons Justice Select Committee’s inquiry into the Probate Service. In a letter addressed to Committee Chair Andy Slaughter MP, the Minister acknowledges concerns raised in the inquiry and echoes several of STEP’s recommendations to reduce delays. The letter also recognises that mistakes were made in the reform of the Probate Service and that numerous lessons have been learned as a result.

Jo Summers TEP, STEP spokesperson and Partner at Jurit, said we welcome the Minister’s acknowledgement of STEP’s role as part of the inquiry. STEP members have contributed a great deal of their time and expertise to assist HMCTS improve the Probate Service. We now look forward to continuing working with HMCTS in its efforts to strengthen the service, improve processing times, and address delays.

She added good progress has been made to reduce probate waiting times, but we urge the government to take up our recommendations to tackle the ongoing probate backlog. The Minister has confirmed that HMCTS will proactively address stopped cases and prevent cases becoming dormant. We recommend that HMCTS brings back experienced probate staff and outsources some complex cases to a limited number of experienced law firms to immediately help reduce this backlog of ‘stopped’ and dormant cases. HMCTS’ own statistics show 27,241 cases are currently stopped or are awaiting documentation and 2,171 families are still waiting over a year for probate to be granted.

Jo Summers and STEP’s CEO Mark Walley submitted verbal evidence to the Justice Committee’s Probate Service inquiry last year. STEP highlighted concerns raised by its members regarding the lack of adequate resources at the Probate Service. STEP conducted a survey in which members revealed that probate registry errors were the key cause of stopped, and therefore delayed, applications. Inexperienced staff and lack of communication were also causing unnecessary delays. STEP also submitted a written consultation response in January 2024.

The survey found that:

• 100% of respondents have had a case of a cancelled house sale due to probate delays.
• 94% of respondents observed damage to the reputation of probate practitioners, as members of the public did not understand why it took so long to wind-up estates.
• 64% of respondents have seen cases of financial hardship for beneficiaries.

STEP’s evidence strongly underscored concerns about staffing levels, training and the need for direct, clear communication between the Probate Service and professional users.

In her response, the Minister has outlined a commitment to improving response times for the processing of applications, while also emphasising that progress had already been made.

According to the latest figures, there are 39,034 open probate cases, including 27,241 cases that are stopped or new cases where HMCTS is waiting for documentation. The average processing time for a grant of probate to be granted is now 6.4 weeks (December 2024) compared to 13.6 weeks the previous year (December 2023).

Progress has been made to reduce the backlog, but more complex paper-based applications are still taking 14.6 weeks to be granted and ‘stopped’ paper applications are taking 23.1 weeks. 1,062 families have been waiting in excess of two years for probate to be granted.

For more information on STEP, visit: https://www.step.org/