HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?

Draft Wills can usually be prepared within 7-10 days of initial appointment unless there is an emergency – e.g. ahead of a holiday or in the event of poor health.

For the purposes of administering the estate of a deceased person, there have been delays at the Probate Registry since the Covid pandemic. Shortly after the pandemic the Probate Registry estimated Probate applications would be dealt with within 16 weeks of application. This was subsequently reduced to a time estimate of 12 weeks and presently the Probate Registry has improved turnaround times. Certainly, the sooner an application is submitted the sooner one is in the queue!

If Inheritance Tax is payable on an estate this will involve discharging the tax liability or proceeding with HMRC instalment option before the Probate Registry is able to seal the Grant. Once relevant HMRC return forms have been completed and submitted to the Revenue it is necessary to wait 20 working days within which the Revenue should provide a unique code which is in turn required for the Probate Registry to proceed with the Grant application. The time estimate for the Probate Registry procedure (referred to above) then commences.