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<p>Data showing the volume of applications for Grant of Probate that are outstanding
includes both cases that have not yet been issued and also all cases which could not
be processed by HMCTS, on initial receipt, due to missing or inaccurate information
(cases which are ‘stopped’):</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Outstanding<sup>1</sup>
Grant of Probate Application at 27 December 2020, England and Wales <sup>1,2, 3, 4</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="4"><p><strong>Probate</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Volume
of outstanding applications</p></td><td><p>Volume of stopped applications</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>27-Dec-20</p></td><td><p>20,759</p></td><td><p>18,824</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr></tbody></table><ol><li>The number of grant applications submitted but
not yet withdrawn or issued. Dormant Applications have been excluded.</li><li>Stopped
cases are a subset of the volumes of cases and include cases with a status of 'Case
stopped re-issue', 'Case Stopped', 'Stopped'.</li><li>Data and management information
and may differ from previously published data. are not subject to the same level of
checks as official statistics. Data in line with published MI (14/1/2021).</li><li>Data
has not been cross referenced with case files and are not subject to the same level
of checks as official statistics.</li></ol><p>The overall volume of outstanding cases
has been steadily reducing in recent months.</p><p>The most recently published information
regarding waiting times for a grant of probate covers July 2020 to September 2020
and is published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 26):</p><table><tbody><tr><td
colspan="5"><p><strong>Average time to grant issue for probate grants, England and
Wales <sup>1,2, 3</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Application
submission to grant issue</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Document receipt to grant issue<sup>3</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>
</p></td><td><p>Mean weeks</p></td><td><p>Median weeks</p></td><td><p>Mean weeks</p></td><td><p>Median
weeks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 2020 to September 2020</p></td><td><p>6.7</p></td><td><p>4.9</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>4.4</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="2"><p>Source HMCTS Core Case Data</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr></tbody></table><ol><li>HMCTS Core Case Data (CCD) came into effect
at the end of March 2019, following a transition between data systems recording information
regarding The Probate Service.</li><li>The average timeliness figures are produced
by calculating the time from application/document receipt (which may be from an earlier
period) to the grant issued made in that period.</li><li>Document receipt occurs after
payment has been made and all accompanying paperwork has been received by HMCTS.</li></ol><p>In
2020 the level of applications being made increased and the service faced unprecedented
challenges due to the impact of Covid 19.</p><p>Despite this, and as a result of HMCTS
increasing resources to meet demand, the average length of time taken for a Grant
of Probate to be issued improved quarter on quarter throughout the year.</p>
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