When someone dies, the assumption is that things will move fairly quickly. The will gets read. Assets get transferred. Life continues.
In practice, probate in the UK takes an average of 12 to 18 months. For estates with any complexity at all, two years is not unusual. During that time, the bulk of the estate is frozen. Beneficiaries can’t access assets. Jointly held accounts are a partial exception, but even those have limits. And if there’s a house, it typically can’t be sold until probate is granted.
A significant part of what makes probate longer is inheritance tax. Before probate is granted, HMRC expects the tax to be paid, or at least partially paid, within six months of death. This creates a situation where the family needs to find cash to pay a tax bill before they can access the assets that would cover it. This is the part that catches most people off guard, and it’s also why estate planning done in advance can make a material difference to how smoothly probate runs. Once someone has died, the options for managing it are limited.
Why does probate take so long?
Several things feed into the timeline.
Gathering information takes longer than expected. Executors have to contact every bank, pension provider, investment platform, and insurer. Some respond quickly. Many don’t. Insurance companies in particular can take months to confirm policy values.
HMRC has its own processing timeline. Once accounts are submitted, the department needs time to review them. If there are queries, those go back and forth by post, which adds weeks to the process.
Court delays have grown. The Probate Registry has faced significant backlogs in recent years. After submitting the application, some families wait six months or more just for the grant to be issued.
Disputes between beneficiaries, contested wills, or unclear asset ownership can extend the process by years. Even minor disagreements about who gets what can add months of correspondence.
The tax payment problem
The six-month IHT deadline creates a specific pressure point.
If an estate is primarily made up of property, the family may not be able to sell the property before the tax is due. This sometimes means taking out a loan, drawing on savings, or using whatever liquid assets the estate holds to cover the bill while waiting for the larger assets to be transferred.
A life insurance policy written in trust can address this. Because it sits outside the estate, it pays out quickly (usually within weeks of the death certificate being issued) and goes directly to named beneficiaries rather than into probate. Many families use this specifically to have liquid funds available to cover the IHT bill while the rest of the estate is processed.
This is one of the few probate pain points that can be completely planned away in advance.
What makes probate smoother
The families who move through probate fastest tend to have a few things in common.
An up-to-date will that is clear, properly witnessed, and held somewhere accessible. “The will is somewhere in Dad’s filing cabinet” is the kind of thing that adds weeks to the process.
An estate summary: a document that lists major assets, accounts, policies, property, and rough values, along with where the relevant paperwork is held. Executors don’t have to guess or go digging.
Joint ownership structures reviewed and understood. For married couples, some assets pass automatically outside of probate when one partner dies. Knowing what’s in this category, and ensuring it’s set up correctly, can reduce the estate that needs to go through the full process.
Beneficiary nominations updated on pension and insurance policies. These also typically pass outside of probate. Many people have outdated nominations from decades ago, sometimes naming people who have since died.
Executors need support too
Being an executor is a significant responsibility. It involves dealing with HMRC, courts, financial institutions, and grieving family members simultaneously. It can take up to two years to complete in complex cases.
Executors can apply for professional probate assistance, which takes the administrative burden off the family. This is often worth considering if the estate is large, if there are multiple beneficiaries, or if family dynamics are likely to create tension.
The planning window
Everything mentioned above, from trust-based insurance policies to clear will structures to updated beneficiary nominations, has to be set up before it’s needed.
It’s not possible to create a trust after someone has died. It’s not possible to fix a problematic will or update a beneficiary nomination. The estate goes through probate in whatever state it’s in when the death occurs.
Most of the delays and cash-flow problems families face during probate are predictable and avoidable. They just require acting on them while everyone is still alive and able to do so.
