Post-1858 wills by post - how long?

[arthurk]

Anyone know how long it's taking to get a copy of a post-1858 will at the moment, using the postal service from the Leeds Probate Registry? I ordered one on 28 January, and the cheque went through my account on 6 February - 10 weeks tomorrow.

The Probate Service website says they aim to deal with applications within 4 weeks, and when they were operating from the York office it was possible to ring up to check on progress, or at least get an answering machine message telling you which date's applications they were currently dealing with. Since the move to Leeds, however, the only way to contact them, according to the application form, is to write them a letter. And if they take 10 weeks to answer that....

(Actually there is an email address for the non-postal section of the Leeds office, which I'll try, but I'm not optimistic of getting a reply.)

Arthur

[Neil Wilson]

Definitely worth chasing up, they might have dispatched the Will and it could have been lost in the postal system, then, they might just have mislaid your application form, filed it thinking it had been processed. A nice letter pointing out the unacceptable delay and requesting a response within 10 working day, hopefully that will speed things up.

[arthurk]

Finally received the copy of the will this morning. The letter that came with it was dated 3 May, so it's taken a week to arrive (includes a bank holiday, though), but the reference they've given suggests they started to process the request on 4 April. I emailed reminders on 15 and 27 April, neither of which was even acknowledged, so I've no idea if they helped to speed up the eventual delivery of the will.

If there were any competition in the provision of this service, I couldn't see this provider lasting long. On the positive side, the will hints at some intriguing goings-on in the family, which I'm about to try to get my teeth into.

Arthur