HM Courts & Tribunals Service flexibly deploys probate staff across administrative work and call handling. Service performance is monitored daily, with resources moved between areas to manage demand and balance call answering with grant production.

Increased demand for probate can mean that waiting times for calls can, during certain periods of the day, be longer than HM Courts & Tribunals aim to provide and the service is reviewing what further steps can be taken to reduce waiting times whilst maintaining grant production levels.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service flexibly deploys probate staff across administrative work and call handling. Service performance is monitored daily, with resources moved between areas to manage demand and balance call answering with grant production.

Increased demand for probate can mean that waiting times for calls can, during certain periods of the day, be longer than HM Courts & Tribunals aim to provide and the service is reviewing what further steps can be taken to reduce waiting times whilst maintaining grant production levels.

Calls to HMCTS telephone numbers are already included in the vast majority of home and mobile phone plans. Once someone has got through to an adviser, we also offer a call-back service for those who would otherwise have difficulty paying for the call.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service has invested in more staff in 2026, alongside system and process improvements and a programme of upskilling in order to improve the processing time for applications and to ensure outstanding caseload does not increase.

Service users can indicate that their application is urgent either at submission or at a later stage and operational teams have processes in place promptly to review such applications.

The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate timeliness and open caseload in our quarterly Family Court statistics bulletin: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK

The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate timeliness and open caseload in our quarterly Family Court statistics bulletin: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.

HMCTS publishes recent management information (which does not go through the same level of quality assurance and analysis as the Family Court Statistics Quarterly) which provides waiting time information: HMCTS management information - GOV.UK.

Individual users can track the progress and status of their digital applications using the online tracker and they also receive email and text updates at various stages of the process. For paper applications users can call the probate service for an update if the grant has not been issued within 12 weeks.

HMCTS has invested in more staff in 2026, alongside system and process improvements and a programme of upskilling, to improve the processing time for applications and maintain outstanding caseload.

The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate timeliness and open caseload in our quarterly Family Court statistics bulletin: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.

HMCTS publishes recent management information (which does not go through the same level of quality assurance and analysis as the Family Court Statistics Quarterly) which provides waiting time information: HMCTS management information - GOV.UK.

Individual users can track the progress and status of their digital applications using the online tracker and they also receive email and text updates at various stages of the process. For paper applications users can call the probate service for an update if the grant has not been issued within 12 weeks.

HMCTS has invested in more staff in 2026, alongside system and process improvements and a programme of upskilling, to improve the processing time for applications and maintain outstanding caseload.

The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate timeliness and open caseload in our quarterly Family Court statistics bulletin: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.

HMCTS publishes recent management information (which does not go through the same level of quality assurance and analysis as the Family Court Statistics Quarterly) which provides waiting time information: HMCTS management information - GOV.UK.

Individual users can track the progress and status of their digital applications using the online tracker and they also receive email and text updates at various stages of the process. For paper applications users can call the probate service for an update if the grant has not been issued within 12 weeks.

HMCTS has invested in more staff in 2026, alongside system and process improvements and a programme of upskilling, to improve the processing time for applications and maintain outstanding caseload.

The Ministry of Justice publishes average waiting times for processing grants of probate here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) currently advises applicants to expect probate applications to be processed within the target time of 12 weeks, although this could take longer if a user needs to provide additional information. Currently, the average waiting time is under 5 weeks.

There are 1.2 FTE Registrars and 2 FTE Deputy Registrars currently in post. There are no vacancies, and capacity is sufficient to meet the requirement for these roles.

One of the main lessons learned following the Reform of the probate service in 2019 was that the centralisation of administrative work alongside the digitisation of the service led to the loss of experienced staff and a training gap for the staff in the Courts and Tribunals Service Centres. These issues have since been overcome and average processing times continue to improve.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service recruited 100 full time equivalent (FTE) staff between June 2022 and June 2023 for the probate service. HMCTS are now holding staffing levels at around 280 FTE compared to 153 FTE in March 2020. This is to maintain the increased volume of grants being issued and providing capacity for a rolling training programme to build the capability of the workforce.

More recent Management Information published by HMCTS shows the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate (following receipt of the documents required) reduced by 3 weeks in March 2024 compared to February 2024. The average timeliness for cases completing in March was 9 weeks.

Official statistics show that the average time (median) from application submission to grant issue for all grant types was 11.0 weeks in 2023 (mean average time was 13.9 weeks). From the document receipt to grant issue the median average time was 8.7 weeks (mean average time 12.0).

Despite the probate service receiving record levels of applications during 2023 the open workable caseload (cases not waiting for more information from the applicant) has reduced by 30,500 cases since August 2023 and currently stands at 37,406 in March 2024.

The average holding time (Average Speed of Answer (ASA)) for phone calls to the Probate office contact line in each year since 2019 is as follows:

2021 = 17 minutes 28 seconds

2022 = 33 minutes 23 seconds

2023 = 12 minutes 17 seconds

HMCTS does not hold ASA data prior to 2021 due to a change in system in Spring 2021.

HMCTS has recruited over 100 additional staff, between June 2022 and June 2023, to improve both telephone response times and increase the overall volume and speed of grants being issued.

In addition, HMCTS have undertaken additional staff training to ensure probate call agents can resolve more queries at the first time of contact and issue the grant wherever possible.

The attached table shows the number of complaints about the performance of the probate service in each of the last five years.

HMCTS has significantly increased staffing levels in Probate over the past year to help process applications faster. The training and upskilling of those new and existing staff have led to applications taking longer in the short term.

HMCTS have streamlined internal processes to cut down on administrative delay and reduce processing times. We are continuing to invest in improving digital systems and online filing capabilities so users can track progress more easily.

HMCTS does not collate the management information on how many errors by the probate service caused delays to the processing of applications.

The probate service received record levels of applications during 2022 and this has continued to grow with higher levels of receipts during January to June 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Whilst HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand the training and upskilling of those new and existing staff has led to applications taking longer in the short term.

HMCTS are focused on increasing outputs to reduce overall timeliness on all types of applications and the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate, following receipt of the documents required, is 13 weeks during April to June 2023.

Average waiting times for probate grants are routinely published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly and currently cover the period up to June 2023.

The number of FTEs working in the probate service in each of the last five years is as follows:

March 2019 = 152

March 2020 = 153

March 2021 = 250

March 2022 = 246

March 2023 = 296

We aim to answer telephone enquiries to the probate service within an average of 12 minutes. However, 2022 performance had fallen short of this goal but has since improved in 2023 by 60% to 12 minutes 15 seconds.

To improve telephone response times and the overall experience for applicants, HMCTS have undertaken additional staff training to ensure probate call agents can provide more accurate and helpful information.

To further enhance the information provided during calls, we are expanding our probate contact centre scripts and FAQs to address common queries in a clear and compassionate way.

The probate service received record levels of applications during 2022 and this has continued to grow with higher levels of receipts during January to June 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Whilst HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand the training and upskilling of those new and existing staff has led to applications taking longer in the short term.

HMCTS are focused on increasing outputs to reduce overall timeliness on all types of applications and the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate, following receipt of the documents required, is 13 weeks during April to June 2023.

Average waiting times for probate grants are routinely published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly and currently cover the period up to June 2023.

The number of FTEs working in the probate service in each of the last five years is as follows:

March 2019 = 152

March 2020 = 153

March 2021 = 250

March 2022 = 246

March 2023 = 296

We aim to answer telephone enquiries to the probate service within an average of 12 minutes. However, 2022 performance had fallen short of this goal but has since improved in 2023 by 60% to 12 minutes 15 seconds.

To improve telephone response times and the overall experience for applicants, HMCTS have undertaken additional staff training to ensure probate call agents can provide more accurate and helpful information.

To further enhance the information provided during calls, we are expanding our probate contact centre scripts and FAQs to address common queries in a clear and compassionate way.

The probate service received record levels of applications during 2022 and this has continued to grow with higher levels of receipts during January to June 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Whilst HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand the training and upskilling of those new and existing staff has led to applications taking longer in the short term.

HMCTS are focused on increasing outputs to reduce overall timeliness on all types of applications and the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate, following receipt of the documents required, is 13 weeks during April to June 2023.

Average waiting times for probate grants are routinely published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly and currently cover the period up to June 2023.

The number of FTEs working in the probate service in each of the last five years is as follows:

March 2019 = 152

March 2020 = 153

March 2021 = 250

March 2022 = 246

March 2023 = 296

We aim to answer telephone enquiries to the probate service within an average of 12 minutes. However, 2022 performance had fallen short of this goal but has since improved in 2023 by 60% to 12 minutes 15 seconds.

To improve telephone response times and the overall experience for applicants, HMCTS have undertaken additional staff training to ensure probate call agents can provide more accurate and helpful information.

To further enhance the information provided during calls, we are expanding our probate contact centre scripts and FAQs to address common queries in a clear and compassionate way.

If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the performance of HM Courts and Tribunals Service's probate service in the last 12 months.

My right hon. Friend raises a case that I have taken some time to unpick. I can reassure her that wait times for calls to the helpline have dropped from an hour to between five and 10 minutes. In terms of the number of what are called stops, when we have to ask for additional information, we are looking at why the form causes that, to see whether it is user-friendly. We are also recruiting additional caseworkers to ensure that complex cases are speeded through the system.

A number of my constituents have been experiencing significant delays in their probate applications—some have been waiting for over 10 weeks—and have had difficulties in accessing staff through the contact centre and the hotline. What message does the Minister have for my constituents who are stuck waiting for answers, and what is he doing to improve the application process? At the end of the day, bereaved families are having to deal with the estates of deceased relatives, and this is a deeply painful time for so many constituents up and down the country.

I have to say to the right hon. Lady that that is an interesting take on a pause. I do not think that taking extra time to ensure that a new system beds down correctly and listening to the concerns of the staff, which many Opposition Members have been asking for for many weeks, is shambolic. Many of the issues in the probate system are caused by the sheer volume of cases coming in with the increased death rate, but they are also about ensuring that we have enough staff on site with the right skills. That is why we are recruiting people to deal with the volume of cases.