In recent years, the probate process in England and Wales has undergone a digital transformation. With the introduction of online services by HMCTS (Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service) and HMRC’s efforts to streamline Inheritance Tax reporting, Executors and legal professionals have seen significant changes to the way estates are administered.

On 13 February 2025, His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) published its latest probate submission report. While the data suggests significant progress in handling probate caseloads, the reality highlights areas that still require improvement. For our partners, this update provides essential insights into the probate process and how these changes affect estate administration for the clients they refer to us.

Throughout 2024, there were a number of legal industry updates and news stories that affected the Wills and probate sector. We’ve summarised some of the key changes and ongoing discussions that could affect professionals and their clients in 2025.

Throughout 2023, there were a number of legal industry updates and news stories that affected the Wills and probate sector. We’ve summarised some of the key changes and the ongoing discussions that could affect professionals and their clients in 2024.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has recently changed the Inheritance Tax (IHT) reporting requirements for excepted estates. The amendment made under The Inheritance Tax (Delivery of Accounts) (Excepted Estates) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 applies to all deaths on or after 1 January 2022.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has outlined plans to align the fees for Grants of Probate to cost recovery, stating that the current fees do not cover the cost of running the service. The proposal outlines that the probate fee in England and Wales would increase from the current £155 for probate professionals and £215 for personal applicants to one standard fee of £273 for both professionals and individuals.

Estate administration is a term slowly becoming more commonly known. One of the challenges we face is around public perception and education; currently, probate is the common term used to describe the estate administration process. As a business providing this service to families all across the UK, we receive questions about estate administration, probate and everything in between. In this blog post, we sit down with our Head of Service Delivery to explore the answers to four of our most asked questions around probate and estate administration.

This is the second and final part of our ‘understanding probate and estate administration’ blog series. If you missed part one, you can read it here.

This is the first part of our ‘understanding probate and estate administration’ series. If you are looking for the second blog, you can read it here.