Newsflash for charities: Probate inquiry launched

On 22 November 2023, the Justice Committee launched an inquiry into the process of applying for probate. The aim of the inquiry is to examine the current process of applying for probate, the issues encountered and review the overall impact of recent reforms to centralise and digitalise the process to consider what improvements could be made.

The inquiry will focus on the following:

1. Capacity, resources, and delays
2. Performance measurement and data
3. Technological change and innovation
4. People's experience of probate
5. Fees and thresholds

ILM have been positively engaging with HMCTS for some time over the challenges faced by legacy teams across the sector. This comes as result of the impact on legacy income following a significant slowdown in service over the last few years, highlighting the need for more communication and data being shared with the charity sector and legal professionals.

Submissions must be submitted to the Inquiry by 22 January 2024 and we will be providing our thoughts on this in more detail at a later date.

For more information, please see here.