3. Mr P complains about the service he has received from HM Courts and Tribunals Service. In particular, he says court staff lost the original will copy he sent to them and is unhappy with the length of time it has taken his probate application. He is also unhappy with wating times when trying to contact HMCTS.
4. He says as a result, it delayed the sale of mother house causing financial hardship and additional costs.
5. Process the claim in a timely manner and compensation.
6. In December 2023 Mr P filed for probate following the sad death of his mother.
7. HMCTS lost the original copy of the will, which caused a four-month delay.
8. Mr P has said because of the delay he says his mother’s house has now had to be taken off the market and will have to be remarketed at a reduced price, as it now requires repair work to be carried out.
9. He has also said he also lost interest from the funds he would have made from the sale of the house, amounting to around £6000.
10. On 25 November 2024, probate was granted.
Delay in probate
13. Mr P complains about the time it has taken HMCTS to process his application for probate – He says he initially sent a copy of his mother’s will on 10 January 2024.
14. He has told our office that the probate was received on 25 November 2024.
15. As a result, he has said failure to process the application in a timely manner he has said his mother has now had to be taken off the market and will have to be remarketed at a lower price. He has also said the delay has meant the house needs repairs carrying out. He has also said he has missed out on interest on the funds from the sale of the house.
16. HMCTS has accepted there was almost a four-month delay in dealing with the application and apologised for this.
17. HMCTS also offered £100, which he accepted on 7 August 2024.
18. There is no doubt that there was a delay in HMCTS processing the probate application and we are extremely sorry to hear the impact Mr P has said this has had on him.
19. Unfortunately, we are unable to consider any financial impacts resulting from potential sale of Mr P’s mother’s house. This is because regardless of the delay, probate applications do take some time and there is no guarantee the house would have been sold.
20. We cannot speculate on the potential selling of the house as there are several variables that we cannot speculate on. Furthermore, regardless of whether the house was sold subject to contract (STC) it would still have to have gone through probate process which can take some time, and it would be for the perspective buyer to decide how long they were willing to take.
21. HMCTS has also explained it is training new staff to deal with the lengthy delays in dealing with probate applications.
22. As such given, we are only looking at the actions HMCTS has taken to put right Mr P’s concerns, we are satisfied no further action is required. This is because, Mr P has already accepted the £100 HMCTS has offered. Given, HMCTS has also apologised for the delay and that we are unable to speculate on the injustice Mr P is claiming, we are satisfied it has taken appropriate steps here. This is in line with our principles of good administration – putting things right.
Communication issues
23. Although, we appreciate Mr P has said he experienced lengthy delays when contacting HMCTS in regard to issues surrounding his probate claim, we are satisfied the actions taken by HMCTS are again enough to resolve manners.
24. HMCTS has already apologised to Mr P for any delays he may have experienced and has explained it is recruiting extra staff to meet demand for its services. We can understand the frustration Mr P faced, especially at such a distressing time, but unfortunately, we cannot criticise HMCTS for struggling with high levels of demand, given it has now taken steps to ensure the issue is sorted in the future.
25. Furthermore, we cannot consider any ‘loss of earnings’ costs Mr P says he experienced because of waiting times.
26. As such, we are satisfied HMCTS has acted in line with our principles of putting things right and has taken appropriate steps to put things right moving forward.
1. We have carefully considered Mr P’s complaint about HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS). We have decided HMCTS has already done enough to put right the impact of it losing the original will and causing a four-month delay in progressing the probate application.
2. We understand the circumstances surrounding the complaint are deeply upsetting for Mr P and appreciate the delay in handling his probate application have caused him additional distress and frustration.