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Probate application taking for ever

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Ramblingrose22 Sat 15-Jul-23 12:27:14

Primrose53 - if that happened to you you were very unlucky. What a crazy system. Hopefully very few people know people holding grudges against the deceased or their beneficiaries would be doing it.
Funnily enough MIL did fall out with a lot of people not related to her in the past but not sure how they'd find out that she died.

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Visgir1 Sat 15-Jul-23 11:43:25

We did my late Mums on line.. Unbelievable it was graded within 15 mins of submission, paperwork arrived few days later.
Good luck I believe.

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Primrose53 Sat 15-Jul-23 11:07:09

Anyone can put a caveat on a Probate application and they do not even have to say WHY they are doing it. They can renew it every 6 months and it costs them just £3 a time!! You can apply to get it removed but if the caveator is determined to be awkward then it can be prolonged and very costly.

The system is crazy.

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Ramblingrose22 Sat 15-Jul-23 10:39:48

Thanks to those who have replied.
Sorry to hear that someone (perhaps challenging the will?) put a caveat on your application Primrose53
No-one will challenge this will as MIL was a hermit and had no living relations but HMCTS are doing the same really questioning who drafted the will, etc and how it was witnessed.
I know it will become a public document if probate is granted and then the nosey parkers might find it but all these questions.....really pointless IMHO.

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Primrose53 Fri 14-Jul-23 14:54:17

Look at the relevant thread on Money Saving Expert about Wills, funerals, probate etc. There are hundreds of posts from people who have waited ages.

I believe even if you have no complications the minimum wait it 16 weeks.

I waited nearly two years because someone placed a caveat on our application and that puts a stop to everything! Two years of hell, solicitors fees, stress and unable to grieve properly.

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utterbliss Fri 14-Jul-23 14:52:36

I was the executor for my late brother-in-law, last year. I did the probate online without a solicitor. It took months. I wasted many hours trying to telephone them. They have only one number for the whole country!!. Good luck, I hope things improve for you.

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Ramblingrose22 Fri 14-Jul-23 14:41:31

I hope this is the correct form for my post.

Is anyone on here involved with probate?

DH and I are joint executors of MIL's will. She died in September 2021 and DH was her only executor. He was too grief stricken to think about probate immediately so we applied for probate in Spring of last year. A few months ago I discovered by chance that HMRC had failed to issue the inheritance tax (IHT) forms we had sent to them to HM Courts Service (HMCTS) despite writing to us to say that they had done so. The HMRC role is to see the forms first and confirm in this case that no IHT was due.

Apparently probate can never be granted without this step of the process having been completed as any IHT due must be paid first but HMCTS never noticed the omission - or never chased the HMRC if they did - despite having received another form we completed called the PA1P where you also pay a fee.

We have sent back all the bits of extra information HMCTS have asked for about the will and about the witnesses and one of our witnesses has sent back a completed questionnaire. We are wondering what new obstacle HMCTS will put in our way next.

I can't track the progress (or otherwise) of the application online because we have applied for probate without using a solicitor or probate practitioner and our application was made by post. But someone who was able to track progress online has told me that it's useless because HMCTS staff don't keep the progress checking system up to date often enough.

I applied for a new passport recently and got an email each time a step of the process was completed describing the step reached. The technology is out there but HMCTS seem to be living in their own Dickensian bubble.

I have made a detailed formal complaint to HMCTS about the poor service and unreasonable delays but am thinking that involving our MP might get things moving more quickly.

Has anyone else been through this absurd process and had to suffer a delay of nearly 18 months since applying? If so, did you go to your MP and ask them to get the delay investigated? And did that help speed things up?

If anyone knows if there is anything we can do to get our case dealt with in a timely manner please let me know.

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