Probate waiting times have halved since last June, with outstanding caseload numbers hitting their lowest levels since early 2023, new government figures show.

Data published last week from HM Courts & Tribunals Service shows wait times in December 2024 were just over four weeks, compared with 12 weeks at the end of 2023 and more than eight weeks at the end of June.

The probate system has reduced its backlog by more than 50,000 cases since August 2023, the government said.

Paper applications, which historically take longer to process than the digital system, have seen improvements in timeliness, with waiting times reducing from more than 22 weeks to less than 15 weeks.

“Charities also benefit from a more efficient probate system because they now have quicker access to funds which have been entrusted to them – easing financial pressure on the third sector,” the government said.

Alex McDowell, vice-chair of Remember a Charity, a consortium of about 200 UK charities that work together to raise awareness of charitable gifts in wills, said the backlog reduction meant charitable gifts could be used more swiftly.

“With more and more people across the UK choosing to support good causes through their wills each year, an efficient and effective probate service is vital for sustaining charitable services and charities’ financial planning,” said McDowell.

“It ensures charitable gifts in wills can be put to good use swiftly, in line with supporters’ wishes.”

About 80 per cent of grant applications are completed online, with digital applications taking on average just over two weeks to complete, the government said.

Applications completed online and submitted with the correct documents result in probate being granted in less than a week, on average.

James Stebbings, chair of the Institute of Legacy Management, said: “Each year the public leave charities £4bn of gifts in their wills and the relief in the charity sector that this income is flowing again is huge.

“We are delighted to see that HMCTS have reduced probate application processing times to where they were five years ago.”