• If your inheritance is taking longer than the usual 6 to 12 months, it’s probably down to a specific hold-up rather than the whole process running slowly.
• Common causes include a paused probate application, an estate with a lot of value tied up in property, or a dispute between beneficiaries.
• If the delay is causing you financial strain, Provira’s Inheritance Advance can give you access to up to 50% of your inheritance before the estate is ready to pay it out.

Most beneficiaries wait 6 to 12 months for their inheritance, so if you’re still inside that window, nothing has necessarily gone wrong. Our guide towhen you’ll receive your inheritance money walks through the normal timeline in full.

If you’re already past that point, or your executor or solicitor has gone quiet, there’s usually a good reason behind it. 

It might be that the probate application has stalled, the executors are working out how to pay an impending tax bill or there’s a dispute between beneficiaries to resolve.

If the wait is putting you under financial pressure,Provira’s Inheritance Advance can release part of your inheritance early, without having to wait for the estate to be ready to distribute it.

Find out if you’re eligible for an Inheritance Advance today.

What are the most common reasons an inheritance is delayed?

There are plenty of reasons an inheritance can take longer than expected to come through.

Some are relatively minor and easy to fix like missing paperwork. Others, like a dispute over the will or a property that won’t sell, can hold an estate up for months.

Here are some common reasons why it might be taking a little longer than usual:

The probate application has been queried or paused

If the Probate Registry finds a problem with an application, it can be paused until the issue is resolved. That can turn into a much longer wait than expected.

Common triggers might be an error on the form, a missing document, or a mismatch between the estate’s Inheritance Tax figures and what HMRC has already recorded.

According to the latest Ministry of Justice figures, digital probate applications that had gone through as normal were taking around 2 weeks to process, while applications that had been paused for more information were taking around 14 weeks to approve. That can be a big difference in the overall timeline.

Most of the estate’s value is tied up in property or other illiquid assets

An estate can be worth a lot on paper and still have very little cash available to pay debts and taxes. If most of the value sits in a house, a business or investments that can only be sold once probate is granted, the estate may just be waiting on a sale to go through.

Property can take an especially long time. Even after probate has been granted, the executor still has to find a buyer and complete the sale. If the first sale falls through, the wait gets longer again.

The estate doesn’t have the cash to pay its Inheritance Tax bill

Inheritance Tax generally needs to be paid, or at least arranged, before HMRC will confirm the estate can move forward with probate. 

If most of the estate’s value is tied up in property or other assets that can’t be touched until probate is granted, the executor may end up having to spend time looking for other ways to pay the Inheritance Tax bill first.

There’s a dispute, a missing beneficiary, or an inexperienced executor

Not every estate runs smoothly. Beneficiaries can disagree over what’s been left to them, someone named in the will may be difficult to trace, or an executor dealing with probate for the first time may need longer to get everything done.

A dispute can be especially difficult because the executor may not be able to distribute the money until it’s resolved. Our guide onmanaging disputes over inheritance explains what can happen next.

The executor is being cautious

Sometimes there’s no error or dispute, the executor is just being careful.

Distributing money too early and then discovering an unpaid bill afterwards can leave an executor personally responsible for covering it, so there’s good reason not to pay everything out too quickly.

That isn’t always something to worry about. But if you’ve been waiting for some time without a clear explanation, our guide onan executor withholding money from a beneficiary explains what’s reasonable.

Could you be waiting longer than other beneficiaries in the same estate?

Yes, two people named in the same will won’t necessarily receive their inheritance at the same time. It can depend on what each of them has actually been left.

A specific item

If you’ve been left a specific item, like a piece of jewellery or a particular possession, you may receive it earlier than other beneficiaries because it isn’t tied to the final estate calculations.

A fixed sum of money

If you’re due to inherit a set amount of money, you’ll usually have to wait until probate is granted before it’s paid. The executor needs to know there’s enough left in the estate to cover its debts, tax and other expenses first.

A share of what’s left, known as the residue

If you’re a residuary beneficiary, you receive whatever is left once everyone else has been paid and every debt has been cleared. This is often the last money to be distributed, which means it’s the most prone to delays.

What can you do if your inheritance is taking too long?

If you’ve been waiting longer than expected for your inheritance, you don’t have to sit there without knowing what’s happening. Start by finding out exactly where the estate has got to.

Ask for a specific update, not a general one

“It’s still with probate” isn’t much to go on. Ask the executor or solicitor exactly what’s happening, and what needs to happen before the estate can move forward.

If the application is with the Probate Registry, ask whether it has been paused for more information and, if so, what’s needed to get it moving again. If a solicitor is dealing with the estate, ask what the latest update is and what they’re currently waiting for.

If a solicitor rather than the Probate Registry seems to be the hold-up, our guide onhow long a solicitor can hold onto inheritance money covers what’s reasonable and what isn’t.

In genuinely urgent situations, it’s sometimes possible to ask the Probate Registry to speed things up. Our guide onwhen probate can be expedited explains when that applies.

Know what you’re entitled to as a beneficiary

You won’t necessarily be entitled to every document or every conversation the executor has with the solicitor, but you shouldn’t be left completely in the dark either.

You’re generally entitled to reasonable information about how the estate is progressing and, in some circumstances, you may be able to see the estate accounts once they’re ready.

If you’ve repeatedly asked for an update and still can’t get a proper explanation, it may be time to look more closely at the situation.

Decide whether you need money before the delay resolves

Sometimes the wait itself isn’t really the problem, the timing is.

You might know exactly why the estate is delayed, but that doesn’t help much if you were relying on the inheritance for a house deposit, to clear a debt or for another expense that can’t wait.

In that situation,Provira’s Inheritance Advance can give you access to up to 50% of your expected inheritance while the delay gets sorted out.

With an Inheritance Advance:

• There are no monthly repayments to make while you wait.
• There’s no personal guarantee and no charge over your own home.
• Eligibility is assessed against your expected inheritance, rather than your income or credit history.
• There are no early repayment fees if the estate is settled sooner than expected.
• We charge simple, not compound interest, and it’s repaid directly from your inheritance once it’s released.

How Provira can help while you wait

Knowing why your inheritance is delayed doesn’t necessarily make the wait any easier, especially if you’re relying on that money for something specific, like clearing a debt or covering a deposit.

Provira’s Inheritance Advance can give you access to up to 50% of your expected inheritance without waiting for the estate to be ready to distribute it.

Before you decide anything, a member of our compassionate team will be on hand to explain how much you could access, what the advance would cost and how repayment works.

Find out if you’re eligible for an Inheritance Advance.