Once an application has been made

What happens next?

The application will be considered and, providing all is in order, the Grant will be prepared and sent to the Isle of Man address for service stated on the application form. The address for service must be an address in the Isle of Man.

If the application, or supporting documentation, is deficient in any way, or if the Court is required to make further enquiries before the application can be progressed, we will write to the Isle of Man address for service stated on the application form. Any documents that need amending will also be returned with the covering letter to the Isle of Man address for service.

It is important to note that whilst the Court is able to provide some general guidance in respect of defective applications, it is the responsibility of the applicant, or the lawyer acting on their behalf, to ensure that the application is submitted in accordance with the requirements of the Court.  The Court is not in a position to engage in protracted correspondence with applicants and/or their legal representatives and reserves the right to direct applicants to seek legal advice should it be of the opinion that the applicant, or their representative, is failing to understand the requirements of the Court.  

Where there are amendments required to the application form, these must be made and then the form must be re-sworn before a Commissioner for Oaths (please see Question 22, point 4) and, if applicable, the Will must be remarked (that is to say signed with full signatures) also. 

How long will it take?

Providing the application and all supporting documentation is in order, and no further information is required or enquiries needed, we aim to process all probate applications, and issue the Grant to the Isle of Man address for service stated on the application form, within the following guidelines

  • Local (Isle of Man) applications within 10 working days of receipt of the application

  • UK applications within 20 working days of receipt of the application

  • Rest of the World applications within 30 working days of receipt of the application

Please note that the above timescales are guidelines only, i.e. during busy periods, or if the application is particularly complex, it may not be possible to process the application within these timescales.  In order to allow the Probate Office to devote its available resources to the processing of your application we would respectfully ask that you do not enquire, e.g. call, e-mail or visit our public counter, regarding the status of any application you may have submitted until the appropriate timescale (indicated above) has passed. Should you have a question regarding an application you have submitted please e-mail the Probate Office on probate.application.query@gov.im

If further enquiries need to be made by this office as a result of the application being deficient in some way we aim to write to the Isle of Man address for service within 10 working days of receipt of the application. 

It is important to note that applications that have been returned as defective and subsequently re-submitted will be treated as if they had been newly received and processed (chronologically) as such, i.e. they retain their original application number but are treated - for the processes of processing - as being a new application received on the date of resubmission.

It should be noted that unless the permission of the Civil Division of the High Court is obtained, no Grant of Probate or of Administration with the Will annexed shall issue within seven days of the death of the deceased, and no Grant of Administration shall issue within fourteen days thereof.

Can a person prevent Probate from being granted?

Any person who wishes to show cause against the issue of a Grant of Representation may do so by filing a Caveat. The Caveat procedure prevents a Grant being issued without giving the Caveator (the person who enters the caveat) the opportunity to liaise with the person applying for the Grant, or to make representations to the Court about the matter.

Page last updated on 05 January 2021