How to Complain about the Probate Registry

If your probate application has been delayed, documents have gone missing or you have received poor service, you can complain to HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS).

Please note: The Probate Department is an independent information and referral service. We are not the government Probate Registry, HMCTS or a firm of probate lawyers. We cannot access your application, issue a grant or investigate a complaint against the Registry.

This guide covers England and Wales.

First: do you need an update or a formal complaint?

If you simply want to know how your application is progressing, start with the Probate Service’s enquiry channels.

If you applied online, sign in to track your probate application.

GOV.UK currently says that you will usually receive your grant within 12 weeks of submitting your application, although it can take longer if further information is needed. If you applied by post and have not received a letter or email within 12 weeks, contact the service.

Probate Service contact details

• Email: co************@*********ov.uk
• Telephone: 0300 303 0648
• Telephone hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 1pm, excluding bank holidays.
• Online information and webchat: GOV.UK — after you have applied for probate

Have your application reference ready, if available.

If a solicitor or another professional submitted the application, ask them to check its progress and explain any outstanding requirements. HMCTS may restrict the case information it can disclose directly to other people.

The usual processing time is not a compulsory waiting period before you can complain about a specific service failure, such as lost documents or incorrect information.

If a professional executor is handling the application

Where a solicitor or another professional executor is dealing with probate, ask them to confirm:

• When the application was submitted and its reference.
• Whether HMCTS has requested further information, and whether it has been supplied.
• What is currently causing the delay.
• When they last checked progress and what happens next.
• How updates and enquiries are charged.

The Probate Service may direct enquiries to the professional who submitted the application. Being a beneficiary does not automatically give you access to a pending application’s details. However, this does not mean that you cannot raise a complaint about service you have personally experienced.

Repeated chasing can reduce the inheritance

If the professional charges for time spent, a beneficiary’s enquiry may generate several chargeable tasks: reading the message, reviewing the file, contacting HMCTS, considering its response and reporting back.

Those charges may be paid from the estate, reducing what is available to beneficiaries. A fixed-fee arrangement may work differently, so check what is included.

For illustration only: 30 minutes charged at £300 an hour costs £150, or £180 including VAT at 20%. Five such rounds would cost £900 including VAT. This is an example, not a typical fee or a prediction of what your executor will charge.

To keep avoidable costs down:

• Agree one family contact to collect questions and share updates.
• Combine questions in one concise email rather than sending separate messages.
• Agree a reasonable update schedule, with earlier notification of important developments.
• Ask for the latest costs estimate, charges incurred so far and an explanation of any increase.
• Ask whether routine progress updates are included in the agreed fee.

This should reduce duplicate work without preventing beneficiaries from raising legitimate concerns.

If a family member is also an executor

A family co-executor may be able to help coordinate enquiries and communication, but first establish their position.

Are they participating in the application, or have they reserved power or renounced? Simply being named in the Will does not mean that HMCTS will give them access to an application submitted by someone else.

A participating family co-executor can ask the professional for the application reference, copies of relevant correspondence and an agreed division of work. They can propose handling routine progress enquiries and sharing updates with the family, while the professional deals with technical matters.

Before contacting HMCTS, agree this arrangement with the professional and ask HMCTS what identification or authority it requires. Direct access is not guaranteed, particularly where the application was submitted through a professional’s online account.

Ask whether this arrangement will actually reduce charges. If the professional still reviews and responds to every enquiry, some costs may remain.

Do not renounce or reserve power simply to simplify communications without understanding the consequences. A participating co-executor has responsibilities for the administration of the estate.

If the professional will not explain the delay or costs

A complaint about the professional’s communication, charges or handling of the estate is separate from a complaint about HMCTS.

Request the professional’s complaints procedure and set out your concerns in writing. Ask for a clear progress report, an explanation of the charges and a proposed plan for completing the work.

If the problem remains unresolved, obtain independent guidance about the appropriate complaint route or legal options. Different routes apply depending on the professional and the nature of the concern.

What can you complain about?

The HMCTS complaints procedure concerns the way its staff have handled your case. For example:

• Unexplained delays or failures to respond.
• Documents being lost or mishandled.
• Incorrect or conflicting information.
• Administrative mistakes.
• Poor communication or treatment by staff.

A service complaint cannot overturn a judicial decision or resolve a disagreement about a Will, an executor or someone’s entitlement to inherit.

Step 1: make your complaint

The clearest starting point is the official HMCTS online complaints form.

You can also complain by email, telephone or in writing through the service dealing with your application. Make it clear that you are making a formal complaint, rather than requesting a routine progress update.

Include:

• Your name, contact details and relationship to the application.
• The deceased’s full name and the application reference, if known.
• When the application and supporting documents were submitted.
• A short timeline explaining what went wrong.
• Dates and details of previous attempts to resolve the problem.
• Copies of relevant correspondence and evidence of delivery.
• The practical or financial impact.
• What you would like HMCTS to do to put matters right.

Keep the complaint factual and concise. Retain a copy and any acknowledgement or complaint reference.

HMCTS aims to respond within 10 working days. This is a response target, not a guarantee that the probate application itself will be completed within that time.

Step 2: request a senior-manager review

If you are dissatisfied with the response, ask for a review by a senior manager at the office concerned.

Explain which parts of your complaint remain unresolved, why you disagree with the response and whether any relevant evidence was overlooked.

The senior manager aims to respond within 10 working days.

Step 3: appeal to the User Investigations Team

If you remain dissatisfied after the senior-manager review, you can appeal to the HMCTS User Investigations Team.

The manager who reviewed your complaint should provide its contact details. Include your complaint reference and explain why you believe the previous response was inadequate.

The team aims to respond within 15 working days.

This is an appeal within the complaints process. It is separate from a legal appeal against a court decision.

Step 4: ask your MP about an Ombudsman referral

If you remain dissatisfied after completing the HMCTS complaints process, you can ask your Member of Parliament to refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

• Find your MP
• Visit the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Keep the original complaint, the responses from each stage and supporting evidence together.

You can also ask your MP for help with an unresolved service problem. An MP cannot overturn a judicial decision or guarantee that a grant will be issued.

What if the grant contains an error?

GOV.UK says that if something is wrong with the probate document, you should return it to the district probate registry listed on the grant or letters of administration.

Contact that registry for instructions before sending documents. Keep copies and a record of what you send.

What if the problem concerns a court decision or an inheritance dispute?

A complaint about HMCTS service will not change a judicial decision. Obtain appropriate professional advice promptly if you believe a decision needs to be challenged, because deadlines may apply.

If your concern is about the validity of a Will, exclusion from an inheritance or another possible claim against an estate, our FREE Probate Dispute Claim Checker may help identify whether there is a potential issue.

Where a possible genuine issue is identified, a free initial chat with an inheritance-dispute specialist is available. The checker is an initial assessment, not a final legal opinion. Any further paid work is agreed separately.

General feedback rather than a complaint

If you want to suggest an improvement or thank staff, the official HMCTS complaints and feedback page provides the relevant options.

Use the formal complaints process if you want a response about a particular service problem.

Further help

For practical information and local services after a death, find your local area.

For general guidance or an introduction to a suitable professional, contact The Probate Department. We cannot chase the Registry or intervene in its complaints process. Some introductions may result in a referral payment to us.

Official sources: HMCTS complaints procedure and GOV.UK probate application guidance.

Information checked: 7 October 2026. General guidance, not professional advice. Contact details, processing times and procedures may change.