What Is the Current Waiting Time for Probate in the UK?
There is no single fixed waiting time for probate, but as a current guide: a straightforward online application for the Grant of Probate usually takes around 4 to 8 weeks, while complex or paper applications can take 10 to 16 weeks or longer.
That is only the time to get the grant itself. Administering the whole estate takes much longer. Most estates in England and Wales are wound up in around 6 to 12 months, with simple ones sometimes finishing sooner and complicated ones running well beyond a year.
The grant is rarely the slow part. Delays usually come from the steps around it. The estate must be valued and any Inheritance Tax dealt with before the Probate Registry will issue the grant, and HMRC can take weeks or months to process IHT submissions. A single error on the IHT400 form, or a query from HMRC, can add several months.
Other common causes of delay include selling a property, tracing missing paperwork, dealing with overseas assets, slow responses from banks, and disputes between beneficiaries.
You can speed things up by acting promptly: register the death, value the estate carefully, and get the IHT position right first time. Applications that are accurate and complete move through far faster than ones the Registry or HMRC has to send back.
For more on the deadlines that sit alongside this timeline, see my guides on the 6 month rule for probate and who pays the bills while waiting for probate.
That is only the time to get the grant itself. Administering the whole estate takes much longer. Most estates in England and Wales are wound up in around 6 to 12 months, with simple ones sometimes finishing sooner and complicated ones running well beyond a year.
The grant is rarely the slow part. Delays usually come from the steps around it. The estate must be valued and any Inheritance Tax dealt with before the Probate Registry will issue the grant, and HMRC can take weeks or months to process IHT submissions. A single error on the IHT400 form, or a query from HMRC, can add several months.
Other common causes of delay include selling a property, tracing missing paperwork, dealing with overseas assets, slow responses from banks, and disputes between beneficiaries.
You can speed things up by acting promptly: register the death, value the estate carefully, and get the IHT position right first time. Applications that are accurate and complete move through far faster than ones the Registry or HMRC has to send back.
For more on the deadlines that sit alongside this timeline, see my guides on the 6 month rule for probate and who pays the bills while waiting for probate.