Probate granted online

[theunknown]

I've posted about this before, and was hoping I'd have achieved probate by now as executor. The advice I've had from helpful people on here was that, in their experience, it takes about four weeks. This was advice I'd seen elsewhere online. There's only me and my sister to inherit and my mum's estate is very straightforward - no tax implications and no property, etc. This meant that I was able to do it online; but my mum had enough money that means the banks need to have sight of the probate grant to transfer the money.

The online probate option is fairly recent, so things seem to keep changing, but the latest information I've seen is that probate is granted between three and five weeks. I'm now on the fifth week after application and still heard nothing. I did have a query from them at the beginning of February about removing a staple from the submitted original will , which was down to me wanting to photocopy it, but never heard anything back about my response to that.

My query is, can those who've gone through the online process tell me how you know you've been granted probate? Do you get an email, letter, etc? Also, do they automatically send you the document(s) through the mail? Do you need to sign for that? I'm going on holiday on Saturday, so won't be around to do that if I don't get anything before then. I keep telling my sister (who was very reliant on my mum financially) it'll be happening soon, but actually I have no idea.

 

[My Mum's Daughter]

You can check if probate's been granted on this link

Search probate records for documents and wills (England and Wales)

probatesearch.service.gov.uk

 

[theunknown]

Thanks for the link, it's useful. My mum's name doesn't appear on there, so I assume it's not been granted yet. Thanks again.

 

[silkiest]

I heard last year that probate was taking a lot longer - 12 weeks on average, don't know if it has changed since then. My friends mother died december 2018 and it took 8-9 weeks then.

 

[Melles Belles]

Last year we sent my father‘s probate in early March and did receive the grant until the end of July and it was a straightforward estate. My FIL’s probate was sent early November and granted in mid January this year so much quicker.

 

[theunknown]

Thanks again to everyone who's responded. I think the online process is probably still a work in progress. It was all so straightforward (for me) to carry out, so I'm glad that facility is there. I'll be out of the country from tomorrow, so now I'm worrying that document(s) I'll need to show banks will be delivered whilst I'm away and need a signature, so if I'm not back in time to collect them from the sorting office they'll be returned to sender. Then I'll have to sort that out. Now my mum's died I just want to be able to remember her as my mum, not an ongoing admin issue. It would have been good to have some practical/emotional support from my sister but that was never going to happen. I feel that I haven't been through the usual grieving process yet.

 

[Lemondrizzle]

We have just had probate granted 5 weeks from application. The grant and requested copies arrived by ordinary post, we did not have to sign for them. My husband received an e-mail about three days before they arrived confirming the grant. I suspect that the query has set your timeframe back as your reply would have needed to be received back before any further progress could be made.

 

[theunknown]

Thanks for that 'Lemondrizzle' - that's really useful information. Feeling more positive about how things will move on now.