Probate Granted Weeks Ago and the Bank Still Hasn't Paid

The grant of probate is not a cheque, and it is not an instruction to pay. It is a piece of authority — the court confirming that you are the person entitled to deal with the estate. So when the sealed grant finally arrives, it feels natural to expect the frozen accounts to open the next morning. They do not. The bank still has the money, and now it runs its own internal closure process before it releases a penny.

That gap, between probate being granted and the money actually reaching you, is the part nobody warns families about. You have done everything that was asked, the grant says you are in charge, and yet the account sits frozen for weeks more while the bank works through its paperwork. It is frustrating, it is extremely common, and — within limits — it is normal.

This page explains why the delay happens, roughly how long each kind of institution tends to take, the chasing method that actually moves a file, and the point at which a slow bank has crossed from ordinary administration into something you are entitled to complain about.

The short answer: the grant is permission, not payment

A grant of probate — called confirmation in Scotland — does one job. It proves to banks, registrars and other institutions that the person named on it has the legal right to gather in the deceased's assets and deal with them. It is the key that unlocks the door. It is not the money coming out.

Once you send a bank the sealed grant, it will not simply transfer the balance on sight. It has to register the grant against the account, satisfy itself about your identity, complete its own account-closure forms, work out the final interest to the date of closure, and only then release the funds. Each of those steps is handled by a bereavement or estates team that is usually processing a great many cases at once.

So the honest position is that the grant restarts the clock rather than stopping it. The frozen account stays frozen until the institution has finished its side, and how long that takes depends far more on the type of account and the institution's workload than on anything you can control.

What the bank actually does once it has the grant

It helps to know what is happening on the other side of the silence, because it tells you what to ask about when you chase.

For an ordinary current account or instant-access savings account, the work is mostly administrative: match the grant to the file, verify you as the personal representative, close the account and pay the balance to the estate account or to you as executor. This is the quickest kind of release.

For anything with an investment element — a stocks and shares ISA, a fund, a bond, directly held shares — there is an extra layer. The bank or provider may need to sell units or shares, wait for a dealing date, and let the trade settle before it can send cash. That settlement is a fixed part of how markets work and cannot be rushed. Fixed-term bonds may need to be broken or left to mature. And where a holding sits with a separate registrar or platform rather than the bank you first contacted, the file has to travel between organisations, each with its own queue.

Understanding this is also why the sums a bank will hand over before a grant are so much smaller and so discretionary. If you have not yet reached this stage, our guide to every UK bank's bereavement limit before probate is needed explains what each will release on a death certificate alone, and when a grant becomes unavoidable.

How long each type of institution typically takes

There is no legal timetable, so any figure is a general expectation rather than a promise. As a rough guide, most banks and building societies aim to release a straightforward account balance within a few weeks of receiving the sealed grant and their completed closure form. Simple estates with one or two high-street accounts often clear in that window.

Investment holdings, National Savings and Investments products, and directly held shares commonly take longer, because of the selling and settlement described above. Overseas assets are slower again, and sometimes need their own local process entirely: a holiday home or bank account abroad may require a second, foreign grant, as we cover in the case of a property abroad that needs its own probate as well.

The practical lesson is to expect a range, not a date, and to plan the estate's cashflow around the slowest asset rather than the fastest. If several beneficiaries are waiting, it is usually the one awkward holding that sets the timetable for everyone.

The chasing route that actually works

Most delay is broken not by shouting but by contacting the right team with the right reference. A few habits make a real difference.

• Deal with the bereavement or estates team, not a branch or the main call centre. They hold the file; nobody else can see its true status. Get the direct number and the name of the person handling it.
• Quote the case or estate reference on every contact. Without it, each call starts from scratch and nothing is joined up.
• Put requests in writing, by letter or secure message. A written trail is what an ombudsman later looks at, and it stops the bank claiming a document was never sent.
• Ask three specific questions. What, exactly, is still outstanding? Who currently holds the file? What is the target date for payment? Vague reassurance is easy to give; a named outstanding item and a date are not.

Keep a simple log of every call and letter, with dates. It costs you nothing and it is the single most useful thing you can produce if the case has to be escalated. It also protects you as executor, because it shows the beneficiaries you have been actively pursuing the money rather than sitting on it.

When a delay stops being reasonable

Because there is no statutory deadline, the test is whether the institution has acted with reasonable care and treated you fairly. Financial firms are required by the regulator to handle bereaved and vulnerable customers properly, and a bank that leaves a straightforward account frozen for months with no explanation, or that repeatedly asks for documents you have already supplied, is not meeting that standard.

Genuine complexity is different from neglect. An estate with foreign shares, a disputed will, or a missing document will legitimately take time. What you are looking for is unexplained silence, repeated resets, or a promised date that slips again and again with no reason given. When ordinary chasing has plainly stopped working, it is time to make a formal complaint rather than another phone call.

A slow release has real consequences beyond frustration. Bills fall due, other assets cannot be dealt with, and a chain can collapse — we have seen exactly that where a buyer walked away because the grant, and then the money, took too long. Naming that cost in your complaint, calmly, tends to focus minds.

Escalating to the Financial Ombudsman Service

Every bank has a formal complaints process, and using it is different from chasing. Send a letter or message that uses the word complaint, sets out the timeline, and says what you want — the funds released and, where appropriate, compensation for the delay.

The firm then has up to eight weeks to give you a final response. If it does not resolve the matter within that time, or if it sends a final response you disagree with, you can refer the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free to use. You normally need to do this within six months of the date of the final response. The ombudsman can direct the bank to release the money, pay interest for the period it was wrongly held, and make an award for distress and inconvenience where the handling was poor.

Source: Financial Ombudsman Service, complaint referral time limits — a business has up to eight weeks to issue a final response, and a complaint can be referred within six months of that final response.

For free, independent help understanding whether a delay is reasonable and how to frame a complaint, MoneyHelper is government-backed and covers dealing with an estate. It will not sell you anything.

What reaches the family without waiting at all

Not every asset is trapped behind the grant, and this is worth understanding both now and in advance. Money held in a genuine joint account usually passes straight to the surviving holder outside the estate. Money held in trust does not form part of the estate either: the trustees can claim it using the death certificate, which is why money held in trust reaches children before probate does.

The same mechanism is why a life insurance policy written in trust behaves so differently from the frozen bank accounts. The insurer pays the trustees on the death certificate and its own forms, so the proceeds can arrive while every account is still locked and while the grant is still being processed. Whether an insurer pays, and how quickly, always depends on the policy being valid and on the claim, and a payout is never guaranteed in advance — but a policy set up in trust is designed precisely to avoid the wait this page describes. If that gap is what worries you, you can get life insurance quotes and ask an FCA-authorised broker about writing cover in trust so it does not get caught in the estate.

Meanwhile, if regular income is still arriving, you may be wondering whether wages or a pension can still be paid into a frozen account — the answer affects how you manage the estate's cashflow while the release is pending.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

The core problem is the same across the United Kingdom: the grant is authority, and the institution still needs time to act on it. What differs is the document and the court behind it.

In Scotland the equivalent of probate is confirmation, obtained through the sheriff court, and banks release funds against it in the same way — with the same post-grant delay you would meet anywhere else. In Northern Ireland the process runs through its own probate office and its own forms, and the point at which a grant is needed can differ, which we set out in how probate in Northern Ireland runs on its own rules. Wherever you are, the release timetable belongs to the institution, not to the court, and the chasing and complaint routes above apply the same way.

You can read the rest of this topic, including the property and tax stages that often run alongside the wait for cash, in our guide to probate, the estate and inheritance tax.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a bank take to release funds once probate is granted?

Most UK banks aim to release estate funds within a few weeks — commonly two to four — of receiving the sealed grant, your identification and their own closure form. Larger balances, investment accounts and anything held with a separate provider often take longer, because units may have to be sold and trades settled. Ask the bereavement team for a target date in writing and diarise it, then chase against that date rather than a vague promise.

What is the quickest way to chase a bank that has gone quiet?

Deal with the bereavement team rather than a branch or the general call centre, quote the case reference on every contact, and put your requests in writing so there is a record. Ask specifically what is still outstanding, who holds the file, and when payment will be made. If dates keep slipping with no explanation, escalate to a formal complaint rather than making another phone call.

Can I complain to the Financial Ombudsman about a probate delay?

Yes. Complain to the bank first, in writing, and use the word complaint. If it has not resolved matters within eight weeks, or you receive a final response you disagree with, you can refer the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service free of charge. Do that within six months of the final response letter. The ombudsman can order the money released, add interest, and award compensation for poor handling.