How long probate is taking in 2026, and what slows it down
Most grants now arrive within weeks rather than months. But almost three in ten applications are stopped along the way, and those take several times longer.
Written with AI from official figures, and checked number by number against the source data. How we make these articles
15.7 weeks average wait when a probate application is stopped, against 2.5 weeks when it is not
Probate is much faster than it was. Between January and March 2026, the Probate Registry issued 76,430 grants in England and Wales. On average it took 6.4 weeks from application to grant, and half were issued within 1.3 weeks.
That is a big improvement. In July to September 2023, the average wait was 15 weeks.
An application is stopped when the Probate Registry needs more information or a document before it can continue. Source: Ministry of Justice, Family Court Statistics Quarterly.
Show the figures
| Period | Stopped | Not stopped |
|---|---|---|
| Jan to Mar 2026 | 15.7 weeks | 2.5 weeks |
| Oct to Dec 2025 | 16 weeks | 2.5 weeks |
| Jul to Sep 2025 | 15.9 weeks | 3 weeks |
| Apr to Jun 2025 | 15.2 weeks | 2.5 weeks |
| Jan to Mar 2025 | 14.4 weeks | 2.4 weeks |
| Oct to Dec 2024 | 17.1 weeks | 3.6 weeks |
| Jul to Sep 2024 | 18 weeks | 4.3 weeks |
| Apr to Jun 2024 | 23.5 weeks | 5.7 weeks |
| Jan to Mar 2024 | 22.7 weeks | 8.7 weeks |
| Oct to Dec 2023 | 23.8 weeks | 10.7 weeks |
| Jul to Sep 2023 | 23.9 weeks | 11.1 weeks |
| Apr to Jun 2023 | 22.7 weeks | 10.8 weeks |
| Jan to Mar 2023 | 21.1 weeks | 6.7 weeks |
| Oct to Dec 2022 | 19.6 weeks | 5.3 weeks |
| Jul to Sep 2022 | 17.3 weeks | 5 weeks |
| Apr to Jun 2022 | 15.4 weeks | 5.1 weeks |
| Jan to Mar 2022 | 16 weeks | 5.2 weeks |
| Oct to Dec 2021 | 17.7 weeks | 4.9 weeks |
| Jul to Sep 2021 | 16 weeks | 4.8 weeks |
| Apr to Jun 2021 | 14.7 weeks | 3.9 weeks |
| Jan to Mar 2021 | 13.3 weeks | 4.5 weeks |
| Oct to Dec 2020 | 12.5 weeks | 4.6 weeks |
| Jul to Sep 2020 | 12.9 weeks | 4.6 weeks |
| Apr to Jun 2020 | 12.8 weeks | 4.6 weeks |
| Jan to Mar 2020 | 12.5 weeks | 4.7 weeks |
| Oct to Dec 2019 | 13.5 weeks | 5.9 weeks |
| Jul to Sep 2019 | 13.7 weeks | 8.6 weeks |
| Apr to Jun 2019 | 10 weeks | 7.7 weeks |
A will makes a difference
Grants of probate, which executors apply for when there is a will, took 5 weeks on average. Letters of administration, needed when there is no valid will, took 10.5 weeks, with a median of 11 weeks. Where there is a will but no executor able to act, the grant is a letter of administration with will annexed, and those took 20.4 weeks on average.
Being stopped is the real delay
The biggest single factor is whether an application gets stopped. In these figures, that means the registry is waiting for a document or a reply from the applicant. The reasons are not published, but in practice they include missing documents, mistakes on the form and questions about the will.
Between January and March, 29.3% of grants had been stopped at some point. Those took 15.7 weeks on average. Applications that went through without being stopped took 2.5 weeks.
Some estates wait much longer
At the end of March, 42,490 applications were still open. Of those, 3,826 had been open for more than a year.
Getting it right first time
Most stops can be avoided with care at the start.
- Keep the original will exactly as it is. Do not remove staples, unpin pages or attach anything to it. The probate rules let the registry ask for a sworn statement about any alteration or sign of damage, and that adds time.
- Match names and dates to the death certificate. Check the spelling of every name and each date before you submit, so there is nothing for the registry to query.
- Deal with inheritance tax first. If forms need to go to HMRC, send them and allow time for HMRC to process them before you apply.
- Answer registry queries quickly. A stopped application waits for your reply, so the sooner you respond, the sooner it moves.
Selling a property during probate
You can put an inherited property on the market and agree a sale before the grant arrives, but the sale cannot complete until the grant is issued. For a home that sits empty while you wait, the costs of insurance, bills and upkeep keep running.
We buy inherited homes, including ones that need work, and can agree a price while you wait for the grant. Our guide to selling a probate property explains how that works, and our longer guide covers planning a sale around probate.
About these figures
These figures come from the Ministry of Justice’s Family Court Statistics Quarterly for January to March 2026, which covers England and Wales. Waiting times are measured from when an application is submitted to when the grant is issued. The Probate Registry stops an application when it needs more information or a document before it can continue.