Probate: Standards
The question
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.
Answered by Ministry of Justice
The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate timeliness and open caseload in the quarterly Family Court Statistics bulletin, available at Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.
Published statistics include a range of breakdowns which enable timeliness and open caseload to be viewed by application type, application channel (paper or digital) and whether an application was stopped because further information or clarification was required from the applicant.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does not classify probate applications as "specialist" or "non-specialist", nor is there a dedicated Lost Wills Team. Consequently, HMCTS does not routinely hold or publish the information requested on waiting times, staffing levels or caseloads for such categories.
Caseworkers receive ongoing training across all aspects of probate work and are deployed flexibly across workstreams to respond to operational demand and ensure resources are directed where they are needed most.
HMCTS is particularly focused on reducing waiting times for paper applications for letters of administration with a will annexed. Timeliness measures for these applications include the time taken for applicants to respond to requests for further information, which can be longer where correspondence takes place by post.
To improve waiting times, HMCTS has invested in additional staff in 2026, alongside system and process improvements and a programme of upskilling. These measures are intended to improve processing times and prevent growth in the outstanding caseload.
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