Accredited official statistics

Family Court Statistics Quarterly: October to December 2025

Published 26 March 2026

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1. Main Points
Increase in the number of cases started in the family courts 64,336 new cases started in family courts in October to December 2025, up 4% on the same quarter in 2024. This was due to increases in most case types: private law (13%), financial remedy (13%), domestic violence (4%) and adoption (2%) cases. However, there was a decrease in matrimonial matters (5%) case starts.
Annually, there were 270,474 new cases started in family courts throughout 2025, up 3% from 2024.
On average, care proceedings took less time than in the same quarter last year with more disposals within 26 weeks The average time for a care or supervision case to reach disposal was 36 weeks in October to December 2025, down 2 weeks compared to the same quarter in 2024. 41% of cases were disposed of within 26 weeks, up 4 percentage points compared to the same period in 2024.
The average time to first disposal throughout 2025 was 38 weeks, down 3 weeks from 2024. 38% of cases were disposed of within 26 weeks, up 4 percentage points compared to 2024.
Private law (Children Act) cases were disposed quicker The average time for Children Act private law cases to be disposed was 35 weeks during October to December 2025, down around 5 weeks compared to the same period in 2024.
The average time for annual Children Act private law cases to be disposed was 37 weeks during 2025, down around 4 weeks compared to 2024.
There were 23,901 divorce applications under the no fault divorce legislation this quarter Between October to December 2025 there were 23,901 divorce applications made, down 5% compared to the same period in 2024, including those for dissolution of civil partnerships.
Annually, there were 109,184 divorce applications made and 105,704 final orders granted throughout 2025, down 1% and similar to 2024 respectively (across both no fault divorce and applications made under the prior legislation).
Increase in both domestic violence remedy orders applied for and orders made The number of domestic violence remedy orders applied for was 8,887, an increase of 5% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2024, while the number of orders made increased by 2% to 9,260 over the same period.
There were 36,376 applications and 37,410 orders made throughout 2025, up 5% and similar to 2024 respectively.
Decrease in the number of both adoption applications and orders In October to December 2025 there were 964 adoption applications, down 5% on the equivalent quarter in 2024. The number of adoption orders issued decreased by 8% to 917.
Annually, there were 3,837 applications and 3,835 orders for adoption in 2025, down 7% and 10% respectively from 2024.
Increase in deprivation of liberty applications and orders made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 There were 2,199 applications under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 relating to deprivation of liberty of those aged over 18 in October to December 2025, up 7% on the equivalent quarter in 2024. Orders increased by 6% to 5,075 in the latest quarter to compared to the same period last year.
There were 8,770 applications and 22,873 orders relating to deprivation of liberty throughout 2025.
Decrease in time taken for probate grants issued Probate grants took approximately 5 weeks (mean average) to be issued after the application was submitted during October to December 2025, down around 2 weeks on the equivalent quarter in 2024. The number of probate applications was 55,645, similar to the same period in 2024.
Annually probate grants took approximately 5 weeks (mean average) to be issued after the application was submitted during 2025, down over 3 weeks on the equivalent quarter in 2024.

This publication presents statistics on activity in the family courts of England and Wales and provides figures for the latest quarter (October to December 2025). Also, the bulletin provides additional commentary on annual changes between 2024 and 2025. For further information and technical details please refer to the accompanying Guide to Family Court Statistics.

For feedback related to the content of this publication, please let us know at familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk

2. Consultation

We want to ensure that the content of FCSQ is understood and valued by all users. So, we are conducting a consultation to help us identify and prioritise improvements and to understand how stakeholders use our statistics.

If you wish to take part, please complete this 10-minute online survey, by 23rd April:

Family Court Statistics Quarterly (FCSQ) User Consultation – Fill in form

Next steps

We will consider all responses to the survey questions and report back on the findings and conclusions after the survey has closed. Any developments suggested will be considered and dependent upon available resource and quality of the data – as such it may not be possible to implement all suggestions.

Thank you for providing your views and helping us to improve the service we provide.

3. New data

Please note that a new set of tables ‘Court of Protection Tables (Oct-Dec 2025)’ have been published as part of this release. This consists of data for the Court of Protection previously included in the FCSQ set of tables on applications and orders, along with:

  • A digital split for the applications made
  • The average time from application to final order, by order type
  • Applications made for appointment of a property and affairs deputy, by age

Any feedback on this development would be welcome at familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk

4. Data Quality Issues

The rollout of reform in family courts introduced a new data management system, Core Case Data (CCD), to collect family data. As each service area undergoes reform, existing cases stay on the legacy system FamilyMan (FM) until they are disposed or closed, while new cases are recorded on CCD with some key details copied back to FM.

Following family private law (FPrL) undergoing this reform process and work done to amalgamate both FM and CCD there are some reports that have work on-going and remain paused:

  • The number of children involved in private law applications by order type (Table 3)
  • The number of private law cases starting in the High Court (Table 7)
  • Private law timeliness to final order (Table 9) - please note that there is a consultation on the future of this table. See the table itself for full details.
  • Legal representation for parties in private law and domestic violence cases (Table 11)

These series will be reinstated as soon as possible when the work is complete.

Data for divorce hearings for Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2022 onwards (Tables 11 and 13) has recently been made available and will be reinstated in future publications.

Financial remedy hearings data for Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2025 has been removed due to changes in how these are recorded in CCD, with work ongoing to the data pipelines (Table 11).

5. Statistician’s comment

Cases starting in the family courts increased by 3% in 2025 compared to 2024, back to similar levels in the peak that was seen in 2022. This increase has been driven by both private law and financial remedy cases, with a smaller increase seen in domestic violence remedy cases. There was a slight decrease in cases closed in 2025, with a substantial drop in private law cases countered by an increase in domestic violence remedy cases.

Data on public law cases shows that care proceedings showed more disposals within 26 weeks during 2025, and private law cases were also disposed of quicker compared to 2024.

Time taken for probate grants to be issued improved in 2025 compared to 2024.

6. Overview of the Family Justice System

Increases in both the number of cases started and cases disposed in Family Courts

In October to December 2025, 64,336 new cases started in family courts, up 4% on the equivalent quarter in 2024. This was due to increases in most case types: private law (13%), financial remedy (13%), domestic violence (4%) and adoption (2%) cases. However, there was a decrease in matrimonial (5%) case starts.

There were 60,854 case disposals in October to December 2025, up 4% on the equivalent quarter of 2024. This was due to increases in domestic violence (33%) and matrimonial (18%) cases. However, there was a decrease in financial remedy (18%), private law (10%), adoption (7%) and public law (5%) case disposals. (Table 1)

Figure 1: Cases started and disposed, by case type, January to March 2014 to October to December 2025 (Source: Table 1)

In October to December 2025, 37% of new cases within family courts related to matrimonial matters, down 4 percentage points from the equivalent quarter of 2024.

During 2025, there were 270,474 new cases started in Family courts, up 3% from 2024. This was due to increases in most case types: financial remedy (8%), private law (7%), domestic violence (4%) and public law (2%) cases. However, there was a decrease in adoption (2%) and matrimonial (1%) cases. The number of cases disposed in 2025 remains similar, compared to 2024. This was due to decreases in adoption (8%), private law (7%) and public law (1%) cases. However, there was an increase in domestic violence (11%) cases.

Timeliness by Case Type

The mean average time for divorce cases (under the no fault divorce law introduced in 2022) to reach first disposal was similar to the equivalent quarter in 2024. Private law cases took less time, with the mean average time to disposal in October to December 2025 taking 35 weeks, down around 5 weeks compared to the same period in 2024. (Tables 10, 10b)

Across all of 2025, the average time for no fault divorce cases to reach first disposal cases to reach first disposal was up 2 weeks from 2024, to 37 weeks.By contrast, private law cases saw a decrease between 2024 and 2025 of 4 weeks, taking the average to 37 weeks. Furthermore, in 2025 the average time for public law cases to first disposal was 33 weeks, down from 36 weeks in 2024. (Tables 10, 10b)

Public and private law cases – number of parties

The vast majority of private law cases involve one applicant (96%) and one respondent (95%) only (Table 6). However, for public law cases whilst nearly all cases have only one applicant, 79% involve two or more respondents.


HMCTS monthly management information

The statistics in this publication focus on the period between October to December 2025; however, monthly management information (MI) has been published by HMCTS that covers up to January 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/hmcts-management-information-january-2026. This MI is subject to the data quality issues associated with extracting data from large live administrative case management systems. Late reporting of cases and regular updating of case details, which can lead to the figures being updated to manage the case - more recent figures may therefore be subject to larger revisions and should be treated with greater care and considered provisional.

7. Children Act - Public Law

Decrease in the number of public law cases disposed with no change in the number of case starts

There were 4,006 public law cases starting in October to December 2025, similar to the equivalent quarter in 2024. Cases disposed were down 5% to 3,932 (Table 2).

Average time for care proceedings decreased

The average time for a care and supervision case to be disposed was 36 weeks in October to December 2025, down 2 weeks from the same quarter in 2024. 41% of these care proceedings were disposed of within the 26-week limit introduced in the Children and Families Act 2014, up 4 percentage points from the same period last year (Table 8).

There were 6,942 individual children involved in new public law applications in October to December 2025, up 1% on the same quarter in the previous year, while the number of orders applied for showed no change. In October to December 2025, public law care applications made up 67% of public law orders applied for (3,119) (Figure 2).

Looking at annual trends, there were 16,349 public law cases started in 2025, up 2% from 2024, whilst the number of cases disposed decreased by 1% over the same period to 15,913. Orders applied for were up 3% from 2024, with 18,782 in total involving 27,689 individual children.

The average time for a care or supervision case to reach first disposal was 38 weeks in 2025, down 3 weeks from 2024. 38% of these care proceedings were disposed of within the 26-week limit - up 4 percentage points compared to 2024.

Figure 2 shows the most common types of public law orders applied for and made in October to December 2025, illustrating the different pattern between the types of orders applied for and the orders that are given, i.e. an application for one type can result in an order of a different type being made.

Figure 2: Public law applications and orders made, by order type, October to December 2025 (Source: Table 3-4)

Open caseload

There were 10,087 total open public law cases at the end of December 2025. This is up from 9,943 at the end of December 2024, a rise of 1%. 65% (6,582) of the open caseload at the end of December 2025 had been open for less than 26 weeks, whereas 159 cases (2%) had been open for 90 weeks or longer.

8. Children Act - Private Law

Increase in the number of private law case starts and decrease in the number of cases disposed

The number of private law cases[footnote 1] started increased by 13% (to 14,038) in October to December 2025 compared to the equivalent quarter in 2024.

The number of private law cases disposed of during October to December 2025 was down 10% on the equivalent quarter in 2024 (Table 2).

There were 27,431 new private law orders applied for in October to December 2025, up 14% on the equivalent quarter in 2024, with 20,789 individual children involved in these applications.

The number of private law orders made in October to December 2025 was 26,182, down 6% on the equivalent quarter in 2024.

Annually, there were 55,311 private law cases started in 2025, up 7% from 2024, whilst the number of cases disposed decreased by 7% over the same period to 43,925. In 2025 there was an 11% increase in private law orders applied for compared to 2024, continuing the upward trend seen since the steep drop in 2014.

Timeliness of Private law cases

In October to December 2025, it took on average 35 weeks for private law cases to be disposed, down 5 weeks from the same period in 2024 (Table 10).

Overall, it took 37 weeks on average for private law cases to be disposed during 2025, compared to 41 weeks in 2024.

Figure 3: Private law timeliness from case start date to final order in the family court, January to March 2014 to October to December 2025 (Source: Table 10)

Cases with legal representation take longer on average

In general, cases where either both parties or the respondent only had legal representation took longer to be disposed of than those cases where only the applicant was represented or where both parties were without legal representation (Table 10).

Legal representation in Private law cases

The implementation of the LASPO Act led to a shift in the proportion of private law cases involving legal representation[footnote 2],[footnote 3]. More recently, the proportions have been relatively stable - in October to December 2025, the proportion of disposals where neither the applicant nor respondent had legal representation was 48%, up 3 percentage points from October to December 2024.

Correspondingly, the proportion of cases where both parties had legal representation was 15% in October to December 2025, unchanged compared to the same period in 2024 (Figure 4).

For 2025 as a whole, neither the applicant nor the respondent were represented in 47% of private law cases, whilst both had legal representation in 15% of private law cases. The percentage of private law cases where neither party is represented has increased by 1 percentage point from 2024, whereas the percentage where both parties have representation is unchanged.

Figure 4: Proportion of private law disposals by type of legal representation of the parties, January to March 2014 to October to December 2025 (Source: Table 10)

The proportion of parties with legal representation in cases with at least one hearing varies by case type and range from around 84% for public law cases to 3% for adoption cases, with figures subject to change as new cases progress (Table 11). Across the whole of 2025 the proportions were similar to the final quarter, with a range from around 84% for public law to 4% for adoption.

10. Divorce

There were 23,901 divorce applications made between October to December 2025 under the ‘no fault divorce’ (NFD) legislation

Between October to December 2025 there were 23,901 applications made (Table 12b). This was a decrease of 5% from the same quarter in 2024. There were 27,717 final orders granted in October to December 2025 up 18% compared to the same quarter in 2024 (across both no fault divorce and prior legislation) (Table 12).

Decrease in the average time for all divorce proceedings

In October to December 2025, the mean average time from application to conditional order was 40 weeks, down 5 weeks from the same quarter of 2024 (Table 12).

There were 23,901 divorce applications made during October to December 2025 (73% from sole applicants, 27% from joint applicants) (Table 12b), down by 5% from the same quarter in 2024. There were 27,717 final orders granted in October to December 2025, up 18% compared to the same quarter in 2024 (across both no fault divorce and prior legislation) (Table 12).

Annually, applications were down 1% in 2025 compared to 2024 and the number of final orders was similar to the year before. There were 109,184 applications under the NFD law in 2025, 73% of these applications were made under a sole applicant. There were also 117,687 conditional orders and 105,704 final orders made in 2025 (across both no fault divorce and prior legislation).

Timeliness of divorce cases

The mean average time from the date of application to conditional order was 40 weeks, down 5 weeks from the same period in 2024. The mean average time from application to final order was 65 weeks, down 6 weeks from the equivalent quarter in 2024.

Annually, there was little change for the mean average time to conditional order (41 weeks in 2025, up less than half a week from 2024), whereas time to final order had increased 3 weeks to 69 weeks in 2025.

The mean timeliness figures can be inflated when historical cases reach decree nisi/conditional order or decree absolute/final order. These historical cases have less effect on the median timeliness, which may act as a better indicator for the length of current divorce proceedings. In October to December 2025, the median time to conditional order was 28 weeks and 38 weeks to final order.

Please note that, due to the mandatory waiting period between applying for divorce and applying for the conditional order (CO), this means that any NFD cases started would have had to have waited at least 20 weeks before getting to the CO stage. For cases applied for under the old law, our timeliness measure will represent a dwindling number of cases and reflect the tail end of cases applied for some time ago, and so this measure will be relatively high and will increase over time (and represent fewer cases) until all cases applied for under the old law are dealt with.

Sole and Joint divorce cases

For sole divorce cases, there were 17,416 applications made during October to December 2025 (73% of the total, down 2 percentage points from the same period of 2024). The average time to conditional order for October to December 2025 for these cases was 38 weeks, and 57 weeks from application to final order.

For joint divorce cases, there were 6,485 applications made during October to December 2025 (27% of the total, up 2 percentage points from the same period of 2024). The average time to conditional order for October to December 2025 for these cases was 31 weeks, and 48 weeks from application to final order.

Figure 5: Divorce applications made between Q2 2022 to Q4 2025, by applicant type (Source: Table 12b)

11. Financial Remedy

Increase seen in financial remedy applications, decrease in disposal events

In October to December 2025, the number of financial remedy applications was up 13% and the number of disposal events was down 18% compared to the same period in 2024 (Table 14).

There were 12,440 financial remedy applications made in October to December 2025, up 13% from the same period in 2024, while there were 10,436 financial remedy disposals events, down 18% compared with a year earlier. During the latest quarter, 74% of applications were uncontested and 26% were contested.

Across 2025 as a whole, there were 49,067 financial remedy applications, up 8% from 2024. By contrast, the number of financial remedy disposals was 46,651, similar to 2024 levels.

Figure 6: Applications for financial remedy orders, January to March 2014 to October to December 2025 (Source: Table 14)

12. Domestic Violence Remedy Orders

Increase in both the number of domestic violence remedy orders applied for and orders made

In October to December 2025, there was a 5% increase in orders applied for compared to the equivalent quarter in 2024. The number of orders made increased by 2% over the same period. The overall picture highlights a longer-term increase in the number of orders applied for, with the number in the latest quarter (Table 15).

In October to December 2025, there were 8,887 orders applied for. Most of the orders applied for were non-molestation orders (82%) compared to occupation orders (18%); these proportions have remained relatively consistent in recent years. Applications for non-molestation and occupation orders in October to December 2025 were both up, by 4% and 11% respectively, compared to the same period in 2024.

There were 9,260 domestic violence orders made in October to December 2025, up 2% from the same period last year. 94% were non-molestation orders and 6% were occupation orders, with non-molestation orders up by 3% and occupation orders down by 7% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2024.

Across the year as a whole, there were record numbers of orders applied for. In 2025, 36,376 domestic violence remedy orders were applied for, up 5% compared to 2024. There were 37,410 orders made, similar to the previous year. Non-molestation orders formed 83% of orders applied for and 94% of orders made, whilst occupation orders comprised 17% and 6% of the totals respectively.

Figure 7: Domestic violence remedy orders applied for, January to March 2014 to October to December 2025 (Source: Table 15)

13. Forced Marriage Protection Orders and Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders

Long term upward trend in the number of forced marriage protection orders and female genital mutilation protection orders (Table 16 and 17)

The number of applications and orders made for forced marriage protection orders (FMPOs) is very small. Consequently, numbers fluctuate each quarter but overall, there has broadly been a long-term upward trend from mid 2020.

In October to December 2025, there were 104 applications made, up from 99 applications made in the equivalent quarter in 2024. Over the same period, there were 179 orders made (including interim and final orders, along with making variations to existing orders), down 4% since the same period from the previous year.

In 2025, 347 applications were made for FMPOs, up 13% compared to 2024. There were 765 orders made, similar to the previous year.

Historically the numbers of orders made outweigh the number of applications. Often there are multiple orders granted per case, where one application covers more than one person, and an order is granted for each person covered in the application. Interim orders, as well as extensions and increased provision of previous orders, can also be granted as new orders for the same person to be protected, without the need for a new application to be submitted.

An increase in the number of orders does not necessarily represent an increase in the prevalence of forced marriage, but potentially it relates to a greater awareness of forced marriage being a crime and the support available. Particularly during 2019 where the government held events with relevant groups (local authorities, police, charities etc.), designed specifically to raise awareness of FMPOs and how they can be used to protect those at risk. In 2020, health education became compulsory across all state-funded schools in England, where Relationship Education is compulsory in primary schools and Relationship and Sex Education (RES) is compulsory in secondary schools to spread awareness of forced marriages.

Figure 8: Applications and orders made for Forced Marriage Protection Orders, January to March 2014 to October to December 2025 (Source: Table 16)

As with FMPOs, the number of applications and orders made for female genital mutilation protection orders (FGMPOs) is very small, with only 27 applications and 82 orders made respectively in October to December 2025 (Table 17). In total, there have been 646 applications and 1,492 orders made up to end of December 2025, with data recorded centrally in 2018.

14. Adoptions

Decrease in the number of adoption applications and orders, consistent with the long-term trend showing a fall in adoptions

During October to December 2025, there were 964 adoption applications made, down 5% from the equivalent quarter in 2024. Over the same period, the number of adoption orders issued also decreased by 8% to 917 (Tables 18 and 19).

During 2025 there were 3,837 adoption order applications made, down 7% from 2024. This continues the downward trend seen in applications made since 2014. There were 3,835 adoption orders issued in 2025, down 10% compared to 2024.

There were 1,836 total disposals in October to December 2025, a decrease of 8% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2024.

There were 7,826 applications under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 in 2025, down 2% from 2024 and continuing the downward trend seen in applications made since 2013. There were 7,732 disposals made in 2025, down 7% from 2024.

The chart below shows the trend of adoption orders by the type of adopter. This shows that during October to December 2025, 53% of all adoption orders were issued to mixed-sex couples, 21% to sole applicants, 17% to same-sex couples and 8% to step-parents.

Figure 9: Adoption orders issued, by adopter, January to March 2014 to October to December 2025 (Source: Table 19)

15. Mental Capacity Act - Court of Protection

Decrease in both applications and orders made in relation to deprivation of liberty under the Mental Capacity Act 2005

There are two ways in which deprivation of liberty can occur. The first is for those applications made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 which cover people over 18 and are made by the Court of Protection, and the second refers to the ability of the High Court to give deprivation of liberty orders for people under 18. The figures in this summary refer to the former and can be found in the Court of Protection tables annexed to this publication. Figures relating to the second route in the High Court can be found in Table 20.

There were 2,199 applications to the Court of Protection, relating to deprivation of liberty under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 made in the most recent quarter, which is an increase of 7% on the number made in the same quarter in 2024.

Furthermore, there was an increase by 6% in the orders made for deprivation of liberty over the same period from 4,797 to 5,075.

An increase in both applications and orders under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA)

There were 10,554 applications made in October to December 2025 (up 12%) and 13,481 orders made (up 20%).

In October to December 2025, there were 10,554 applications made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), up 12% on the equivalent quarter in 2024 (9,424 applications). Of those, 29% related to appointment of a property and affairs deputy (CoP Table 1).

In comparison, there were 13,481 orders made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), up 20% on the same quarter in 2024. Of those, 38% related to deprivation of liberty (CoP Table 2).

Deprivation of liberty orders represented the highest proportion of orders made under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) during 2025, totaling 40% of the 56,832 made throughout the year.

Data on property and affairs deputy applications by the age band of the person who may lack capacity has been published for the first time. 167 such applications were made during October to December 2025 (53% for 16-18 year olds), up 8% on the same period in 2024.

Deprivation of Liberty applications made under the Mental Capacity Act

There were 2,199 applications relating to deprivation of liberty under the Mental Capacity Act in October to December 2025 (21% of the applications made under the Mental Capacity Act in this quarter). Deprivation of liberty orders made increased by 6% from 4,797 last year to 5,075 in the latest quarter.

Figure 10: MCA Deprivation of Liberty applications and orders, January to March 2014 to October to December 2025 (Source: CoP Tables 1 and 2)

Deprivation of Liberty applications made under the High Court

There are also deprivation of liberty applications made to the High Court, which has the power to make deprivation of liberty orders for children under the age of 18. There were 379 applications during October to December 2025, up 18% compared to the same period in 2024, for this purpose handling the same number of children. Almost all of these children were teenagers; 59% aged between 13 and 15 and 30% aged between 16 and 18 years (Table 20). There were 220 cases closed in October to December 2025, down 30% from the same period in 2024.

In October to December 2025, 267 orders were issued (down 12%), of which, 57 have had a final order made. 35% of the orders which were finalised between October to December 2025 lasted less than 3 months, while 5% lasted more than 12 months.

In 2025 there were 1,439 deprivation of liberty applications and 1,184 orders made under the High Court.

16. Mental Capacity Act - Office of the Public Guardian

A decreasing trend in Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) following the peak mid-2024 with more recent increases

In October to December 2025, there were 356,705 LPAs registered, up 11% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2024 (Table 21).

In total there were 357,769 Powers of Attorney (POAs) registered in October to December 2025, up 11% from the same quarter in 2024 (Table 21). In October to December 2025, 56% of POAs registered were from female donors whilst 42% were from male donors and 45% were over 75 years old. Lasting Power of Attorney (LPAs) made up almost all (99.7%) of POAs registered in October to December 2025, with Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) making up the other share. There were 1,064 EPAs registered in October to December 2025, down 11% on the equivalent quarter in 2024.

Annually, there were 1.33 million LPAs registered in 2025, down 11% compared to the previous year. There were 4,409 EPAs in 2025, down 19% on 2024. In total, there were 1.34 million Powers of Attorney in 2025, down 11% from the year before.

The sharp increase in LPAs seen during 2015 and 2016 was largely due to increased publicity and the new online forms introduced in July 2015 making it simpler and faster to apply. The more recent increase in LPAs is part of the trend seen of more applications being made over time as awareness of LPAs has increased and also in response to the pandemic, leading to a peak in mid-2024.

Figure 11: Powers of attorney registered, January to March 2014 to October to December 2025 (Source: Table 21)

17. Probate Service

Probate grants issued more quickly than other grants of representation

Probate grants took approximately 5 weeks to be issued after the application was submitted during October to December 2025, down around 2 weeks from the equivalent quarter in 2024. Letters of administration with a will and without a will took around 20 and 9 weeks respectively (Table 23).

Similar levels in the proportion of digital applications for probate grants with an increase in the proportion of probate grants issued made digitally

In October to December 2025, there were 55,645 applications for probate grants. 54,310 probate grants were issued in the same period. 92% of both applications and 94% of these grants issued were made digitally, compared to 91% of each in the same quarter in 2024 (Table 22).

There were 69,690 applications made for grants of representation in October to December 2025. 55,645 (80%) of these were for probate grants, of which 92% were made digitally (Table 22).

Probate grants also make up the majority (81%) of all grants issued. In October to December 2025, 59% of the grants issued were applied for by legal professionals and 41% were personal applications (Table 22). For the 54,310 probate grants issued in the same period, 94% were issued digitally.

During 2025, there were 304,944 applications made for grants of representation, up 2% on 2024. There was a total of 295,418 grants of representation issued, down 10% on 2024. Probate grants made up 81% of all the grants of representation issued in 2025.

Annually there were 242,821 applications for probate grants and 239,091 probate grants issued in 2025, up 2% and down 10% respectively from 2024.

Timeliness of probate grants

The mean average time from application submission to grant issue for probate grants was 5 weeks (median average 2 weeks) overall. The mean time between application submission and grant being issued is the lowest it’s been since the start of the series. Whilst the mean average time for the majority of grants (that is digital probate grants for applications not stopped which formed 75% of total probate grants issued) took approximately 2 weeks from application submission to grant issue and less than a week from document receipt to grant issue.

Timeliness of grants issued can be affected if the case has been ‘stopped’ for any reason (this can occur when there’s a dispute about either who can apply for probate or where there are issues with a will or proposed will, or if an error is identified and a request for further information made). Probate grants that were stopped during October to December 2025 took 15 weeks on average to be issued, compared to 2 weeks for those that were not stopped.

Time taken from document receipt (i.e. when payment has been made and the application and all accompanying documents are ready for examination) to grant issue, is around 2 weeks quicker than the average time from application submission for probate grants.

Averages for letters of administration with a will and without a will were 20 and 9 weeks respectively for October to December 2025, though these formed a smaller proportion of all grants issued, 3% and 15% respectively (Figure 12).

Figure 12: Average (mean) time for grants of representation issued from application submission by the Probate Service, July to September 2019 to October to December 2025 (Source: Table 23)[footnote 4]

When a probate case is contested, the Chancery Division of the High Court deals with the matter. In 2025 there were 127 contested probate cases, up from 125 cases in 2024.

Open caseload

There were 39,437 total open probate cases at the end of December 2025. This is similar to the number of open cases at the end of December 2024. The majority of the open caseload is for probate grants (61%), compared to letters of administration (30%) and letters of administration with a will annexed (10%). Open cases for probate decreased from 25,103 in December 2024 to 23,932, down by 5% (Table 24).

78% (30,659) of the open caseload at the end of December 2025 had been open for less than six months.

18. Further information

The data presented in this publication are from live administrative databases. Therefore, previously published data is liable to be updated in the latest bulletin, following any further data cleaning or the incorporation of additional cases not available in the extracts used to produce previous bulletins.

Accompanying files

As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:

Accredited official statistics status

Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in January 2019. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

It is the Ministry of Justice’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected for accredited official statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the Authority promptly. Accredited official statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.

Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:

Tel: 0300 790 0711

Email: newsdesk@justice.gsi.gov.uk

Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to the Data and Evidence as a Service division of the Ministry of Justice:

Sarah Steadman, Head of Family Court Statistics, using the following email address familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk

Next update: 25 June 2026

URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly

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Produced by the Ministry of Justice

Alternative formats are available on request from ESD@justice.gov.uk

  1. The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) also publishes (England only) data on the number of private law cases. A comparison of Cafcass and MoJ data and further information can be found in the accompanying guide. ↩

  2. Please see the accompanying guide for further details. ↩

  3. Removal of Legal Aid was a result of the Legal Aid, Sentencing & Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). ↩

  4. Due to quality issues in the transition between data systems, the breakdown by type of grants of representation for Q2 2019 were rounded estimates only, with the average distribution across 2016 to 2018 applied to the known total. These estimates then feed into the total for 2019. ↩

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