Ministry of Justice written question – answered at on 17 July 2026.
Siân Berry
Green Spokesperson (Justice), Green Spokesperson (Transport), Green Spokesperson (Work and Pensions), Green Spokesperson (Democratic Standards), Green Spokesperson (Home), Green Party Chief Whip
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he made of the reasons for the increase in probate processing times.
Catherine Atkinson
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice
The Ministry of Justice publish regular data on probate timeliness and open caseload in our quarterly family court statistics bulletin Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK. According to the published data in the Family Court Statistics Quarterly, the overall timeliness (both mean weeks and median weeks) has remained stable since Q1 of 2025 to the most recently published Q1 of 2026. There has been an improvement in the timeliness (both mean weeks and median weeks) from the figures in 2024. The published data shows that timeliness figures vary between case types, whether it is a paper or a digital application, whether the case has had to be stopped to request further information.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service have invested in more staff in 2026, alongside system, process improvements and a programme of upskilling to improve the processing time for applications and maintain the low level of outstanding caseload.
Yes1 person thinks so
No0 people think not
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
