On 13 July 2026, probate fees in England and Wales rose from £300 to £526 — a 75 per cent increase. The fee is only part of the cost. Processing delays, HMRC requirements, and incomplete applications can stretch the timeline from weeks to months.
Current average processing times: clean online applications are taking around 5 to 6 weeks. Paper applications average 16 to 20 weeks or more. Complex estates involving IHT calculations, overseas assets, or disputes take significantly longer. The single biggest cause of delay is incomplete applications — every query from the Probate Registry adds weeks.
For estates above the IHT threshold, there is an additional bottleneck. Before you can even apply for probate, you must submit an IHT account (form IHT400) to HMRC and wait for the IHT421 reference. HMRC aims for 15 to 20 working days, but in practice it often takes longer. Meanwhile, IHT is due within six months of death — creating a timing squeeze where tax must be paid before bank accounts are accessible.
The six most common causes of delay: incomplete applications with missing documents, disputed or uncertain property valuations, lifetime gifts that require seven years of bank statement analysis, trust assets requiring specialist reporting, foreign assets needing separate proceedings, and caveats entered by potential claimants.
What you can do now to reduce delays: keep a comprehensive asset register updated annually, organise all original documents in one accessible place, record every lifetime gift with dates and amounts, choose executors with the time and competence to manage the process, apply online (four times faster than paper), get property valuations from RICS surveyors as early as possible, and use the Direct Payment Scheme to release funds to HMRC before probate is granted.
The difference between a well-prepared estate and a disorganised one is measured in months. An organised estate with clear records can complete probate in weeks. One without records can take a year or more. The executor’s job begins long before anyone dies.