This is Money: Inheritance tax on pensions could make probate delays worse

The number of bereaved families waiting six months or more for probate has more than doubled, but the Government promises it is training extra staff to rapidly increase processing of applications.

Applying for probate is an important step to gain control over an estate after someone dies, allowing executors to access bank accounts, settle debts and sort out bequests.

Families having to wait at least six months jumped from well over 5,000 to 10,100 in the year to 2023, and the most recent figures dating from early 2024 suggest it was on a similar track again last year.

The number experiencing a delay of a year or more spiked to nearly 1,400 in 2023 and was also on course to beat that figure in 2024, according to Ministry of Justice data requested by Quilter. The financial services firm warned that plans to make pensions liable for inheritance tax from spring 2027 would likely to worsen delays to getting probate.

Speaking to This is Money on behalf of STEP about the issue, Jo Summers, partner in our Private Wealth & Tax team, said:

“STEP is encouraged to see that digital probate applications are taking less time but remains concerned that many families are still waiting well over a year for their probate to be granted.

“There remains a significant backlog of applications and there is a real risk of this backlog increasing when pensions become subject to inheritance tax.

“STEP renews its call to the Ministry of Justice to continue the work of the previous Justice Select Committee [of MPs] on probate delays.”

Read the full article in This is Money, here.