This increase in wait time comes as the government prepares to make pensions liable to inheritance tax (IHT) which could further delay the grant of probate in many cases.

The number of probate cases taking between 21 and 23 months to be granted has risen by 132% highlighting the ongoing strain on the probate process even before pension wealth becomes part of the process in April 2027.

Length of time taken to grant probate
Year Over 6 months/Over 9 months/Over a year/ Over a year and a half/Between 21-23 months

2020 3,267 1,670 587 122 57
2021 5,332 2,584 891 230 113
2022 5,067 2,681 930 205 97
2023 10,103 4,392 1,371 259 132
2024 (Jan-Mar) 2,722 1,425 490 124 65

Percentage change (2020-2023) 209% 163% 134% 112% 132%

According to the government, a grant of probate should usually be obtained within 16 weeks of submitting an application.

A grant of probate is a legal document that confirms the authority of the executor(s) named in a deceased person’s will to manage and distribute their estate according to the will’s terms. It is required in many cases to access the deceased’s assets, such as bank accounts, property, and investments.

Delays in obtaining a grant of probate can have several adverse effects:
• Financial strain: When probate is delayed, the deceased’s assets, including bank accounts, remain frozen, creating financial stress for beneficiaries.
• Property and asset management: Properties in the deceased’s name cannot be sold or properly managed without probate, leading to potential depreciation or disrepair.
• Investment risks: Delays prevent reallocation or management of investments, potentially resulting in financial losses.
• Tax liabilities: Late payment penalties or missed tax advantage deadlines can arise.
• Distribution delays: Beneficiaries may face financial or personal difficulties waiting for inheritance, exacerbating family tensions.
• Emotional stress: Prolonged uncertainty can add to the emotional strain during an already difficult time.

Jon Greer, head of retirement policy at Quilter said: “Under the current set of rules, we are already witnessing huge delays in granting probate causing significant stress for grieving families. With pensions set to become part of the taxable estate from April 2027, the situation is only likely to worsen.

“Pension schemes often remain unaware of a member’s death immediately, delaying legal and tax processes. This means legal personal representatives will face an even greater burden, consolidating information across multiple pension schemes.

“These delays and added responsibilities compound an already difficult situation. Executors, often close kin or friends, will need to input detailed information, adding complexity to an already time-intensive task. Pension schemes will have to decide whether to continue with discretionary processes for identifying beneficiaries, which can add significant time.

“Moreover, delays may cost families significantly. HMRC proposes charging interest on IHT owed after six months following death, currently at 7.25%. Interest will likely be charged on IHT due from schemes even where delays are not caused by them, quickly mounting up.

“To mitigate these issues, it’s crucial to organise your estate in advance. Utilising trusts and making lifetime gifts can help reduce the complexity and potential tax liabilities. Engaging a financial adviser and having a will in place can also ease the process for executors.”

Quilter has partnered with Efinity Wealth Ltd, Harris & Co Wealth Management and Secure Financial Planning Ltd.

Efinity Wealth is based in Cheshire and run by principal Charles Davies, a chartered financial planner with over 15 years of expertise in the financial services industry.

Harris & Co Wealth Management is based in Belfast, launched in 2024 by principal Ross Harris who  has over thirty years of experience within financial services and spent eight and a half years at St James’s Place.

Secure Financial Planning is a financial advice firm based in Milton Keynes, led by principals Manisha Savdas and Kalpesh Savdas. Savdas has worked as financial adviser for over nine years.

These appointments follow the recent additions of five other AR firms that joined Quilter’s advice network in December 2024.

Stephen Fryett, managing director of Quilter Financial Planning, said: “It’s a pleasure to round the year off by welcoming another three firms led by experienced principals to our network.

“We are excited to support these firms in their development. Looking ahead to 2025, we expect to welcome many more throughout the course of the year.”

The data was revealed following a request to the Ministry of Justice regarding the shortest and longest wait times for LPA processing. In addition, in the 2024/25 tax year an application was processed after over six years.

Prior to this, in the tax years from 2019/20 to 2022/23 the longest wait time was over three years while the shortest wait time was 20 days.

These numbers represent working days, not calendar days.

Applications may take longer to be registered if they contain errors that need to be rectified by the customer. The time taken for customers to remedy these errors is included in the length of time recorded.

A LPA is a legal document that allows you to appoint one or more people to make decisions on your behalf if you lose the capacity to make those decisions yourself.

There are two types of LPA, health and welfare or property and finance. It is vital when you are putting an LPA in place that you consider who is the most appropriate person or people to be appointed as your attorney(s).

Five reasons why LPA applications get rejected and then take a long time to process:

1. Incorrect signing order: The donor, certificate provider or attorneys have not signed and dated the LPAs in the correct order – the donor must sign the LPAs first, then the certificate provider, then the attorneys, and thereafter, the person registering the LPA must sign again (either the attorney or the donor). Parties often sign the LPAs in the wrong order, which is not allowed.
2. Missing information: This is often the date that the donor, attorneys or certificate provider have signed the LPAs, or sometimes their signatures have not been witnessed. The LPAs must be completed in their entirety before they can be submitted to the OPG to be registered.
3. Incorrect witnesses: Parties often use witnesses to witness signatures who are not allowed to be used – for example, an attorney cannot witness the signature of a donor because there is a conflict of interest in doing so.
4. Unworkable LPA requests: The donor might appoint attorneys to make decisions one way, and then include instructions to make them act differently, making the LPAs unworkable– for example, if you have three attorneys appointed in your LPA, and the LPA says attorneys should act ‘jointly and severally’, you cannot then include an instruction in the LPA to say that decisions are made by majority vote, as by acting jointly and severally, all of the Attorneys have equal power to act and make decisions.
5. Not providing full names: Parties often submit LPAs without giving the full information required – for example, witnesses often cause an LPA to be rejected by not noting their full details on the LPAs– the witnesses must give their full name (including their full middle names), and not just their initials with their surname. This is important as banks and other financial institutions may refuse to grant the attorney access to funds if there are spelling mistakes or discrepancies in the documentation.

Shaun Moore, tax and financial planning expert at Quilter: “It is shocking that an application for such a vital element of financial planning would take so long to process. While we do not know the circumstances that led to such a long wait time, the data shows that it is not uncommon for applicants to have to wait years for the approval of their Lasting Power of Attorney registration.

“Part of the reason for this may be that errors are made on the applications, and because the most common method of application was via post, the rectification of errors took longer, either on the Office for Public Guardian’s side or the applicant’s side.

“The relatively new method of digitally applying for Lasting Power of Attorney should help to ensure that errors in applications can be rectified more quickly, reducing these mammoth wait times.

“It cannot be overstated how important an LPA can be. However, it is worth remembering that one can only be drafted while you have mental capacity – once you’ve lost capacity, it is too late. While we can only hope for the best, we should prepare for the worst

It was reported that government officials had asked one of the UK’s biggest pension providers to review the impact of such a move, which would bring the limit down to almost a third of its current level.

In reaction, Graham Crossley, NHS pension specialist at Quilter said: “A move like this could stoke fear amongst public sector workers that the government is coming for their pensions.

“The government really needs to start thinking about the consequential impact. Many individuals have earmarked their lump sums to settle mortgages, and their financial plans would be left devastated.

“We could see significant numbers of senior healthcare workers bringing forward their plans to retire to avoid whatever the next attack on their pension could be. We recently saw consultants accept pay deals, but if the government then takes away some of that benefit by taxing the extra lump it created, we could see a return to pay unrest and strikes.

Crossley added: “There’s a risk that it could end up costing more to fix the problems this could create, such as increased waiting lists, compared to the tax take from such a move. The government could really shoot themselves in the foot with this.

“They could introduce this fear of a future pension tax grab, but then find themselves with little additional tax revenue in the short term as higher earners may be able to rely on existing Lifetime Allowance protection certificates which safeguard their maximum tax-free lump sum amount.

“The government needs to tread carefully.”