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To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will extend non-payment of inheritance tax on personal estates from six to 12 months because of severe delays to the obtaining of probate.
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will extend non-payment of inheritance tax on personal estates from six to 12 months because of severe delays to the obtaining of probate.
Inheritance tax is due at the end of the sixth month after the date of death. After this point, late payment interest will begin to accrue on the outstanding tax. The Government has no plans to change the existing, longstanding deadlines.
The most recent Family Court Statistics Bulletin published by the Ministry of Justice shows that probate grants took approximately 5 weeks to be issued after the application was submitted during January to March 2026.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he made of the reasons for the increase in probate processing times.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he made of the reasons for the increase in probate processing times.
The Ministry of Justice publish regular data on probate timeliness and open caseload in our quarterly family court statistics bulletin Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK. According to the published data in the Family Court Statistics Quarterly, the overall timeliness (both mean weeks and median weeks) has remained stable since Q1 of 2025 to the most recently published Q1 of 2026. There has been an improvement in the timeliness (both mean weeks and median weeks) from the figures in 2024. The published data shows that timeliness figures vary between case types, whether it is a paper or a digital application, whether the case has had to be stopped to request further information.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service have invested in more staff in 2026, alongside system, process improvements and a programme of upskilling to improve the processing time for applications and maintain the low level of outstanding caseload.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when will the probate application 1763-9735-8436-3140, submitted by David Bull on 24 November 2025, in respect of Beryl Patricia Bull, be granted.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when will the probate application 1763-9735-8436-3140, submitted by David Bull on 24 November 2025, in respect of Beryl Patricia Bull, be granted.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has checked the application referred to. The application cannot currently be granted as further enquiries need to be made before a grant can be issued.
HMCTS apologises for the delay in progressing this application. The applicant is being updated and, once the relevant enquiries have been completed, the application will be processed as quickly as possible.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of whether staffing levels within specialist probate teams are sufficient to meet demand.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of whether staffing levels within specialist probate teams are sufficient to meet demand.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what target time HM Courts and Tribunals Service has set for determining probate applications referred to specialist teams.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what target time HM Courts and Tribunals Service has set for determining probate applications referred to specialist teams.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of probate applications referred to specialist teams are determined within the target timeframe.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of probate applications referred to specialist teams are determined within the target timeframe.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps are being taken to reduce waiting times for probate applications referred to specialist teams.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps are being taken to reduce waiting times for probate applications referred to specialist teams.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time was for probate applications referred to specialist teams within HM Courts and Tribunals Service in each of the last three years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time was for probate applications referred to specialist teams within HM Courts and Tribunals Service in each of the last three years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many probate applications have been awaiting action by a specialist team for (a) over six months, (b) over 12 months and (c) over 18 months.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many probate applications have been awaiting action by a specialist team for (a) over six months, (b) over 12 months and (c) over 18 months.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time is for applications referred to the Lost Wills Team.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time is for applications referred to the Lost Wills Team.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many full-time equivalent staff have been assigned to the Lost Wills Team in each year since 2022.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many full-time equivalent staff have been assigned to the Lost Wills Team in each year since 2022.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for a grant of probate were submitted in a) English and b) Welsh in each year since 2021.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for a grant of probate were submitted in a) English and b) Welsh in each year since 2021.
Grants of representation(1) applied for by language submitted in, England and Wales
Annually 2021 to 2025
Source: HMCTS Core Case Data
| Total Applications(2) |
| Language submitted in | |
Year |
| English (or not specified) | Welsh | |
2021 | 282,857 |
| 281,994 | 863 |
2022 | 292,252 |
| 291,327 | 925 |
2023 | 302,882 |
| 301,620 | 1,262 |
2024 | 299,430 |
| 297,670 | 1,760 |
2025 | 304,972 |
| 302,721 | 2,251 |
Notes:
1) All grant types including letters of administration with/without a Will
2) Total applications do not include where the grant type is not specified/missing
Due to revisions these figures may differ slightly to those published in Family Court Statistics Quarterly.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the increase in the probate application fee to £526 on bereaved families, in the context of current costs of living, including on those whose estates lack sufficient liquid assets to meet that...
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the increase in the probate application fee to £526 on bereaved families, in the context of current costs of living, including on those whose estates lack sufficient liquid assets to meet that...
The Government recognises that applying for probate can be a difficult process for bereaved families. Before introducing the increase in the probate application fee to £526, the Ministry of Justice undertook a full Impact Assessment, including an assessment of the equalities impacts of the change in line with its obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty. This was published alongside the Court and Tribunal Fees (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2026 on 19 June 2026. This fee increase is intended to recover the cost of delivering the probate service, taking account of rising costs from inflation and investment in a modern and efficient service and ensuring that the service has the resources necessary to continue to deliver effectively. Estates valued below £5,000 will continue to be exempt from paying a fee.
For those who may be unable to afford a fee, the Help with Fees remission scheme remains available to eligible applicants. In addition, where an applicant does not qualify for Help with Fees, they may ask court or tribunal staff to exercise the Lord Chancellor’s exceptional power to remit fees. This ensures that no one is denied access to justice because they cannot reasonably afford a court or tribunal fee.
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of completed probate applications are granted within eight weeks.
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of completed probate applications are granted within eight weeks.
Grants of representation1 issued within 8 weeks, England and Wales
2025
Source: HMCTS Core Case Data
| Total grants issued | Issued within 8 weeks of application submission2,5 |
| Issued within 8 weeks of document receipt3,4,5 | ||
Year | Count | % of total issued |
| Count | % of total issued | |
2025 | 295,417 | 240,505 | 81% |
| 248,268 | 84% |
Notes:
1) All grant types including letters of administration with/without a Will.
2) Timeliness figures are calculated from the date of application (which may be from an earlier period) to the date the grant was issued.
3) Timeliness figures are calculated from the date of document receipt (which may be from an earlier period) to the date the grant was issued.
4) Document receipt occurs after payment has been made and all accompanying paperwork has been received by HMCTS. As such, it does not reflect the entire case journey from when an application is submitted by the user to when a grant is received. Instead these figures reflect the timeliness from when HMCTS staff are able to start working on the case.
5) Includes cases up to and including 8 weeks (56 days)
Due to revisions these figures may differ slightly to those published in Family Court Statistics Quarterly
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the current average processing time is for probate applications.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the current average processing time is for probate applications.
The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate grant volumes, timeliness and open caseload in our quarterly Family Court statistics bulletin: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to issue a grant of probate.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to issue a grant of probate.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service 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 in order to ensure the outstanding caseload does not increase.
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
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that emergency applications for grants of probate are processed promptly; and whether he has made an assessment of the impact of staffing levels at the Probate Service on the processing time for emergency applications.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that emergency applications for grants of probate are processed promptly; and whether he has made an assessment of the impact of staffing levels at the Probate Service on the processing time for emergency applications.
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