Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the reasons for current waiting times within the Specialist Team of the Probate Registry, and of the impact of those delays on bereaved families; and what measures his Department is introducing to reduce the distress and financial uncertainty caused by protracted waiting times.

Applications for Probate can be delayed where more information is needed from the applicant, a caveat is in place or where cases are more complex. HM Courts & Tribunals Service is investing in more staff, alongside system and process improvements to improve timeliness and further build capability for the more complex cases, which include cases involving a lost will.

The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate timeliness in our regular quarterly family court statistics bulletin: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.