Probate fees are due to rise to £300 despite bereaved families suffering “soaring” wait times for vital legal documents.
From May, grieving families face a 10pc increase in the cost of applying for a grant of probate – the legal document allowing them to sell their loved one’s house and unlock their inheritances.
The Ministry of Justice has decided to increase charges despite a huge surge in the number of families forced to wait almost two years for a grant from HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).
It usually takes 16 weeks to get a grant.
But in 2023, almost 1,500 families faced delays of a year or more, data obtained in a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
Meanwhile, the number waiting 21 to 23 months leapt up by 65pc between 2020 and 2023.
Wealth manager Quilter, which obtained the data, said the delays were taking a significant emotional toll on families caught in the “probate maze”.
Shaun Moore, of Quilter said: “This can have huge ramifications for a family. It is natural that more complex estates will take longer for probate to be granted but the increases in wait times across the board is cause for concern.”
The delays have been blamed on the loss of experienced staff and a subsequent rise in errors after the probate system was centralised and digitised in 2019.
The effects of the centralisation, which saw local registries replaced with call centres, were made worse by a sudden jump in deaths during the pandemic, culminating in a huge backlog of cases.
The long waiting times have also hit charities who rely on donations in wills as a key source of income.
According to the Institute of Legacy Management, charities are waiting to receive about £800m because of the backlog at the probate office, which has delayed donations left in wills.
Cancer Research has been unable to invest in 44 projects with some £34m in donations held up at the probate registry, the Telegraph reported last month.
Property deals have also fallen through because of the delays, while some have reported being hit with extra inheritance tax charges due to the wait times.
Kerry Morgan-Gould, of law firm Ashfords, said: “Unless the delays are properly addressed, it is possible that we will see an increase in disputes [between executors and beneficiaries] [...] for assets to be realised at the best possible price.”
Charlotte Watts, of Wilsons Solicitors, said: “Although the probate registry has made some improvements recently by taking on a number of new staff [...], the more complex postal applications are still taking up to 30 weeks to process – and [...] 48 weeks in one case.”
In November 2023, the Justice Committee launched an inquiry into probate amid a rise in concerns about the delays.
Jo Summers, of law firm Jurit, giving evidence to the committee last week said: “We are now facing a lack of consistency on probate applications. There is no certain answer we can give people when they ask us how long the process will take.”
In 2019, the Ministry of Justice backed down on plans to introduce a tiered system for probate fees, which would have seen estates paying as much as £6,000, following widespread criticism.
But it is now pressing ahead with a small annual rise which will be used to help fund work towards a reduction in wait times.
A spokesman for HMCTS said: “Most digital probate applications are processed in around nine weeks and we have recruited more staff to deliver further improvements for customers – resulting in record numbers of grants being issued in recent months.
“The number of applications taking over a year to resolve represents just 0.3pc of our overall caseload.”
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