England and Wales · Ministry of Justice data
Probate delays and waiting times
Track open probate cases and the time taken to issue grants. These figures describe the published caseload and completed grants; they do not predict the wait for an individual application.
Data through Q2 2026. Published .
- Open cases at quarter end
- 47,003
- Q2 2026
- Change from a year earlier
- 7,646 more (19.4%)
- Compared with 39,357 in Q2 2025
- Change from the lowest quarter
- 11,215 more (31.3%)
- Compared with 35,788 in Q1 2025
Open caseload includes non-workable cases waiting on the applicant. It is not solely a queue ready for HMCTS to process. Read the methodology.
Open probate cases by age
At the end of Q2 2026, 22,775 cases were workable and 24,228 were non-workable. The chart shows all open cases, including letters of administration, from Q1 2023.
- Up to 6 months
- 6–12 months
- 12–24 months
- Over 24 months
| Quarter | Up to 6 months | 6–12 months | 12–24 months | Over 24 months | Total | Workable | Non-workable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2023 | 68,320 | 7,213 | 1,660 | 1,679 | 78,872 | 45,819 | 33,053 |
| Q2 2023 | 80,736 | 6,699 | 2,296 | 1,869 | 91,600 | 52,166 | 39,434 |
| Q3 2023 | 81,282 | 8,176 | 2,202 | 1,564 | 93,224 | 67,073 | 26,151 |
| Q4 2023 | 67,330 | 7,135 | 2,219 | 1,506 | 78,190 | 52,039 | 26,151 |
| Q1 2024 | 58,600 | 6,815 | 2,373 | 1,469 | 69,257 | 36,169 | 33,088 |
| Q2 2024 | 51,021 | 6,993 | 2,594 | 1,557 | 62,165 | 30,081 | 32,084 |
| Q3 2024 | 35,220 | 6,168 | 2,580 | 1,625 | 45,593 | 14,162 | 31,431 |
| Q4 2024 | 30,846 | 5,099 | 2,211 | 1,367 | 39,523 | 12,273 | 27,250 |
| Q1 2025 | 28,128 | 4,201 | 2,136 | 1,323 | 35,788 | 9,241 | 26,547 |
| Q2 2025 | 32,195 | 3,950 | 1,979 | 1,233 | 39,357 | 17,474 | 21,883 |
| Q3 2025 | 31,247 | 4,018 | 2,016 | 1,133 | 38,414 | 17,010 | 21,404 |
| Q4 2025 | 30,741 | 5,354 | 2,279 | 1,256 | 39,630 | 20,973 | 18,657 |
| Q1 2026 | 32,993 | 5,719 | 2,463 | 1,411 | 42,586 | 23,901 | 18,685 |
| Q2 2026 | 35,869 | 6,507 | 3,061 | 1,566 | 47,003 | 22,775 | 24,228 |
Cases open longest
| Age band | Q2 2026 | Q2 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 12–24 months | 3,061 | 1,979 |
| Over 24 months | 1,566 | 1,233 |
Open cases by applicant
| Applicant | Open cases | Share | Workable | Non-workable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal | 25,847 | 55.0% | 11,015 | 14,832 |
| Solicitor | 21,156 | 45.0% | 11,760 | 9,396 |
Probate grant waiting times
For all grants issued in Q2 2026, the mean time from submission was 6.3 weeks and the median was 1.1 weeks. From documents received, the mean was 5.3 weeks and the median was 0.1 weeks.
The mean is the arithmetic average; the median is the middle value when waits are ordered. See the ONS explanation of averages. The documents measure starts after payment and receipt of the accompanying paperwork. These are times for grants issued during each quarter, not the age of cases still open or the time needed to complete an estate.
- Submission: mean
- Submission: median
- Documents: mean
- Documents: median
| Quarter | Submission: mean | Submission: median | Documents: mean | Documents: median | Grants issued |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2 2019 | 8.1 | 7.3 | 8.0 | 7.1 | 45,416 |
| Q3 2019 | 9.8 | 8.1 | 9.7 | 8.1 | 66,701 |
| Q4 2019 | 8.2 | 5.7 | 8.1 | 5.6 | 67,885 |
| Q1 2020 | 7.1 | 4.4 | 6.9 | 4.3 | 61,839 |
| Q2 2020 | 7.1 | 4.7 | 6.8 | 4.6 | 56,361 |
| Q3 2020 | 7.1 | 5.0 | 6.4 | 4.7 | 72,547 |
| Q4 2020 | 7.7 | 5.6 | 6.8 | 5.1 | 65,959 |
| Q1 2021 | 8.1 | 4.6 | 6.2 | 1.7 | 73,600 |
| Q2 2021 | 7.4 | 4.4 | 5.4 | 2.0 | 66,358 |
| Q3 2021 | 9.3 | 6.6 | 8.0 | 5.9 | 71,785 |
| Q4 2021 | 9.0 | 6.0 | 8.1 | 5.0 | 61,685 |
| Q1 2022 | 8.8 | 6.0 | 7.8 | 5.1 | 68,939 |
| Q2 2022 | 8.2 | 6.1 | 6.6 | 4.1 | 70,159 |
| Q3 2022 | 8.6 | 6.0 | 7.1 | 4.0 | 66,153 |
| Q4 2022 | 9.6 | 6.7 | 8.4 | 5.0 | 64,561 |
| Q1 2023 | 10.8 | 5.9 | 9.3 | 3.9 | 66,557 |
| Q2 2023 | 14.9 | 11.4 | 12.9 | 9.4 | 61,884 |
| Q3 2023 | 15.0 | 11.9 | 12.5 | 8.9 | 70,608 |
| Q4 2023 | 14.9 | 10.9 | 13.0 | 9.0 | 78,686 |
| Q1 2024 | 12.9 | 8.4 | 11.2 | 7.0 | 83,058 |
| Q2 2024 | 10.1 | 4.1 | 8.2 | 2.0 | 81,981 |
| Q3 2024 | 9.0 | 3.0 | 7.2 | 1.3 | 89,470 |
| Q4 2024 | 7.9 | 2.9 | 5.8 | 0.3 | 73,936 |
| Q1 2025 | 6.2 | 1.6 | 4.8 | 0.3 | 80,866 |
| Q2 2025 | 6.0 | 1.9 | 4.4 | 0.4 | 73,060 |
| Q3 2025 | 6.4 | 2.1 | 4.9 | 0.9 | 74,611 |
| Q4 2025 | 6.1 | 1.7 | 4.7 | 0.1 | 66,879 |
| Q1 2026 | 6.4 | 1.3 | 5.2 | 0.1 | 76,435 |
| Q2 2026 | 6.3 | 1.1 | 5.3 | 0.1 | 71,076 |
Online, paper and stopped applications
A case may be stopped for further information or because of a dispute. The groups below overlap: all channels includes online and paper, and all cases includes stopped and not stopped.
| Channel | Status | Grants issued | Submission: mean | Submission: median | Documents: mean | Documents: median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All channels | All cases | 71,076 | 6.3 | 1.1 | 5.3 | 0.1 |
| All channels | Stopped | 20,188 | 16.2 | 9.6 | 14.9 | 8.1 |
| All channels | Not stopped | 50,888 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 |
| Online | All cases | 59,238 | 4.4 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 0.0 |
| Online | Stopped | 14,995 | 13.0 | 7.0 | 11.3 | 5.7 |
| Online | Not stopped | 44,243 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Paper | All cases | 11,838 | 16.0 | 10.0 | 15.8 | 10.0 |
| Paper | Stopped | 5,193 | 25.5 | 18.9 | 25.2 | 18.6 |
| Paper | Not stopped | 6,645 | 8.5 | 5.9 | 8.4 | 5.9 |
Times are rounded for display. Missing values are shown as “Not available”; published zero values remain zero. The CSV retains source precision.
Personal applicants’ share of grants
Personal (non-solicitor) applicants accounted for 45.9% of grants issued in 2026 YTD to Q2: 67,771 out of 147,511. The annual series begins in 2012.
We divide personal grants issued by the published total for all applicants. Full years use published annual totals where available. A part year uses the available quarters and is labelled year to date (YTD). It is not a full-year estimate.
- Personal applicant share
| Year | Personal | Solicitor | All applicants | Personal share | Unreconciled difference | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 86,621 | 156,841 | 243,642 | 35.6% | 180 | Published annual total |
| 2013 | 92,213 | 168,756 | 260,969 | 35.3% | 0 | Published annual total |
| 2014 | 90,219 | 157,079 | 247,298 | 36.5% | 0 | Published annual total |
| 2015 | 102,094 | 174,326 | 276,420 | 36.9% | 0 | Published annual total |
| 2016 | 93,495 | 159,852 | 253,347 | 36.9% | 0 | Published annual total |
| 2017 | 97,036 | 163,624 | 260,660 | 37.2% | 0 | Published annual total |
| 2018 | 98,396 | 165,831 | 264,227 | 37.2% | 0 | Published annual total |
| 2019 | 90,851 | 146,278 | 237,719 | 38.2% | 590 | Published annual total |
| 2020 | 106,247 | 150,459 | 256,706 | 41.4% | 0 | Published annual total |
| 2021 | 105,388 | 168,040 | 273,428 | 38.5% | 0 | Published annual total |
| 2022 | 104,749 | 165,063 | 269,812 | 38.8% | 0 | Published annual total |
| 2023 | 121,654 | 156,081 | 277,735 | 43.8% | 0 | Published annual total |
| 2024 | 139,032 | 189,413 | 328,445 | 42.3% | 0 | Published annual total |
| 2025 | 131,717 | 163,699 | 295,416 | 44.6% | 0 | Published annual total |
| 2026 YTD to Q2 | 67,771 | 79,740 | 147,511 | 45.9% | 0 | Sum of published quarters |
The published all-applicant total exceeds the personal and solicitor counts combined in 2012 (180 grants) and 2019 (590 grants). We retain those differences and do not assign them to an applicant type. The MoJ guide warns of applicant-breakdown limitations during the system change in 2019. The CSV supplies an annual breakdown for that year; treat that share with caution.
Sources and methodology
Source: Ministry of Justice, Family Court Statistics Quarterly: April to June 2026. Published ; imported .
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Read the licence.
- What open caseload measures
- The chart uses the total open caseload at each quarter end, including workable and non-workable cases. Non-workable cases include applications awaiting a will or further information from the applicant. See MoJ’s evidence on workable caseload. Annual snapshot rows are excluded; quarterly stocks are not added together.
- Timing starting points and grant types
- Submission-to-issue starts with the application. Document-receipt-to-issue starts after payment and receipt of all accompanying paperwork. “All grants” includes probate and letters of administration, with and without a will. See the MoJ probate definitions.
- Published averages and stopped cases
- We use the published mean and median for each group; we do not average medians across groups. A stopped case can involve a request for information, a will issue or a dispute about who may apply. See the MoJ timeliness explanation. Historical averages are not a service promise.
- Revisions and missing values
- The figures come from live administrative data and are revised. Each import replaces the full derived series so comparisons use the same release. See the MoJ data quality statement. A colon in a source CSV becomes a missing value, not zero.
- Annual applicant shares
- We select all channels and all grant types. Blank and NULL quarter fields are annual rows. We use each published annual total once and sum quarters only where an annual total is absent or the latest year is incomplete. The share is personal grants divided by all grants, expressed as a percentage. The difference column is all grants less personal and solicitor grants.