UK Probate Statistics 2026
Around 239,000 grants of probate were issued in England & Wales in 2025, from roughly 243,000 applications. Waiting times improved markedly — the average time to issue a grant fell by three weeks to about five weeks as digital applications became the norm.
Source: Ministry of Justice, Family Court Statistics Quarterly.
What the data shows
Probate volumes remain high, with about 239,000 grants issued in 2025 — roughly 81% of all grants of representation (the rest being letters of administration where there was no will). After a difficult period of delays, the service has sped up: the Ministry of Justice reports the average time to issue a grant fell by three weeks during 2025 to around five weeks, helped by the shift to digital applications.
Timelines still vary widely. Clean digital applications can be issued in a couple of weeks, while those that raise queries can take far longer — and around one in three applications is returned for errors, the main avoidable cause of delay. Obtaining the grant is only part of the picture: administering a whole estate typically takes 9 to 18 months.
Key takeaways
- About 239,091 grants of probate were issued in England & Wales in 2025.
- Probate accounts for roughly 81% of all grants of representation.
- Average time to issue a grant fell by three weeks to around five weeks in 2025.
- Full estate administration still typically takes 9 to 18 months.
Sources
- Ministry of Justice — Family Court Statistics Quarterly (2025)
- GOV.UK — Probate service performance data
- GOV.UK — Applying for probate; Probate fees
- Reviewed by
- ClearLegacy editorial team
- Last reviewed
- June 2026
- Next review
- December 2026
- Coverage
- England & Wales
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