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24 November 2023 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 8050 / Categories: Features , Wills & Probate , Profession
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Musing of an executor

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Driven to distraction by financial & other businesses failing to respond to essential enquiries? Stephen Gold recommends taking the compensation route

Your probate colleagues will tell you that they can match your high blood pressure. Delays in prizing grants out of the probate service are legion. What is not readily apparent is that HMCTS, which enjoys responsibility for the service, is obliged to entertain complaints about delays under the same scheme that applies to mess ups in the courts and tribunals. And that the scheme enables the payment of compensation where a complaint is upheld is not exactly shouted from the Petty France rooftops. Indeed, in the just updated guidance on complaints, the availability of compensation remains a secret but does provide a link to an online ‘thank you’ form. I come fresh from complaining to HMCTS about what transpired to be a period of 10.5 weeks during which my online application for probate as executor of my late aunt’s estate went to sleep.

I secured a £50 without prejudice goodwill

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NEWS
A wave of housing and procedural reforms is set to test the limits of tribunal capacity. In his latest Civil Way column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold charts sweeping change as the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 begins biting
Plans to reduce jury trials risk missing the real problem in the criminal justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, David Wolchover of Ridgeway Chambers argues the crown court backlog is fuelled not by juries but weak cases slipping through a flawed ‘50%’ prosecution test
Emerging technologies may soon transform how courts determine truth in deeply personal disputes. In this week's NLJ, Madhavi Kabra of 1 Hare Court and Harry Lambert of Outer Temple Chambers explore how neurotechnology could reshape family law
A controversial protest case has reignited debate over the limits of free expression. In NLJ this week, Nicholas Dobson examines a Quran-burning incident testing public order law
The courts have drawn a firm line under attempts to extend arbitration appeals. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed of the University of Leicester highlights that if the High Court refuses permission under s 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996, that is the end
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