A visit to Battersea Dogs & Cats Home for the Probate Registry

Last week, a group of employees from the HMCTS Probate Registry were treated to a visit to Remember A Charity members, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. The visit forms part of our work programme with HMCTS, helping build understanding of the importance of gifts in Wills for UK charities.

The team from the Probate Registry enjoyed a tour of Battersea’s London centre, meeting some of the animals in their care. During the visit, they learned about the charity’s 160-year history in helping to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome dogs and cats in need, and of the crucial role of charitable gifts in Wills, which now fund over 40% of Battersea's work.

Commenting on the visit, Blerta Clubb, Head of Legacy Administration at Battersea, said:

“Legacy gifts are vital to our mission to be here for every dog and cat who needs us - from providing food and a warm bed to a dog or cat arriving at Battersea, to supporting our awareness campaigns that improve the welfare of dogs and cats everywhere. We were delighted to welcome the Probate team to our London centre to thank them for their work that enables legacy income to keep flowing through to charities like ours, and to show them the on the ground impact that this special form of giving can have.”

Melissa Davies, Head of Operations, Probate Service, added:

“Our staff in the Probate Service understand the importance of our work for court users and charities and they are always at the heart of what we do. Seeing firsthand the incredible work the charities do has strengthened that connection and reinforced our sense of purpose. The visit to Battersea was highly welcomed, and the team found it both inspiring and rewarding. They came away with immense admiration for the vital work being done. We are truly grateful to Remember A Charity for organising these visits and for their ongoing support.”

Improved probate performance

While the Probate Registry had been tackling a backlog of estates in the probate system since 2019, the past year has seen a marked turnaround in performance, with monthly grant output levels continually exceeding applications. Waiting times are down and, in July this year, the number of grants issued hit a new monthly record at over 32,000. The visit provided the ideal opportunity to thank the Probate Registry for their hard work in making this possible, processing higher volumes of charitable estates.

Remember A Charity, alongside our partners the Institute of Legacy Management (ILM), continue to work closely with HMCTS to ensure the sector is well represented in key discussions and factored into ongoing service developments. This includes meeting regularly with the Probate Registry, contributing to the Probate Service Users Working Group, and running a series of webinars for probate staff in partnership with a member charity.

Last week, we delivered the latest Remember A Charity webinar for the probate team with Macmillan Cancer Support, sharing just how important gifts in Wills are for the charity’s services and beneficiaries. The probate team learned not only how valued legacy supporters are or how important that income is to Macmillan, but of the charity’s origins, set up by Douglas Macmillan in 1911.

Earlier in the year, Remember A Charity, the ILM, Cancer Research UK, and Devon Air Ambulance Trust provided evidence in Parliament to the Justice Committee’s Probate Inquiry, helping deliver significant outcomes for charities.

With an ongoing mission to nurture and enhance the UK charitable Will-writing environment, we continue to work on behalf of members to ensure key stakeholders are informed and engaged with the importance of legacies.

Remember A Charity members can access the latest probate data and forecasts in the members only area here.