The average wait for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration of a simple estate took approximately 2-3 months in pre-Covid times (providing all persons and companies contacted respond promptly to all queries). The administration of more complex estates, where the value exceeds the nil rate band for inheritance tax purposes, would always take a little longer to administer and an average wait for a Grant of Probate was 3-4 months.
The timescales we are seeing more recently are far more varied and from application for the Grant of Probate we are regularly experiencing waits of 4-5 months from the Probate Registry.
Similarly HMRC are taking approximately 4-5 weeks longer that pre-Covid times to issue paperwork and the Land Registry have a wait of up to 18 months for a First Registration of a property.
All of these outside organisations have a direct effect on the time it takes to complete the administration of an estate.
There has been no change to our practices here at Beers and we are working as hard as we ever were to ensure that matters are dealt with promptly as we understand the effect that the administration process can have on the family and friends of a loved one.
Beers LLP are happy to offer assistance with the administration process however complex the estate, call us on 01548 857000 to discuss how we can help.