Probate fees to hit £300 as waiting times are soaring

Probate fees are to rise to £300 despite bereaved families suffering “soaring” wait times for vital legal documents.

From May, 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 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.

Meanwhile, the number waiting 21 to 23 months leapt up by 65pc between 2020 and 2023.

Wealth manager Quilter said the delays were taking a significant 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 a 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.

Property deals have also fallen through because of the delays, while some have reported being hit with extra inheritance tax charges.

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] as the pressure mounts for assets to be realised at the best possible price.”

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. Applications taking over a year to resolve represents just 0.3pc of our caseload.”