Since 2nd November 2020, all Grant of Probate applications made by professionals have to be processed via My HMCTS. This is an online case management tool to allow submission of case applications for probate, divorce, family public law orders, financial remedies and immigration and asylum appeals.
The benefit of making online applications means that cases can be monitored and applications are quicker to submit after all of the relevant information has been collated.
This may not, however, be without its faults. There are huge delays at present, with Grant of Probate applications taking up to 18 weeks to be returned, in some cases. This is frustrating at what is already a difficult time and Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service have requested that they will not give updates if applications were not submitted more than 8 weeks prior to calling, which is enforced with the idea that the staff at The Probate Registry can focus on ensuring that Grants of Probate are issued and not spending their time answering telephone calls.
The Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioners technical counsel urged HMCTS to consider the potential issues of rolling out the online service and to delay it to allow time to smooth out the problems however this was disregarded.
Specialised and complex applications can still be made on paper.
Lawyers are often blamed for the long delays in dealing with the administration of an estate, and any changes in the future which move towards a digital process; as long as it does in fact makes things faster, is certainly welcomed.
We look forward to seeing how things develop and also hope for a system whereby Grants of Probate and Death Certificates can be accepted in digital format in the future, to make it easier for bereaved loved ones who are left to deal with the often lengthy process of estate administration.
The blog postings on this site are accurate at the time that they are written and do not constitute legal advice. All comments are made in good faith, and neither Keyte Legal Limited nor the author will accept liability for them. Please contact us for more information or advice.