‘Probate delays after my husband died led to a £5k mortgage bill’

Jackie Baker’s husband, Ian, had cancer diagnosed in early 2022 and died in September last year. The months after his death have been a tough time for Jackie — made worse by a steady stream of debt letters and a £5,000 bill caused, in part, by delays in the probate system.

Ian, 59, who ran an engineering business, lived with Jackie in Hinchley Wood, Surrey, and owned a two-bedroom buy-to-let property in nearby West Molesey that he bought before the couple were married 19 years ago. It had an interest-only mortgage of £153,600 and their daughter was paying rent to live there.

After Ian’s death Jackie, 60, who works in compliance for the wealth manager Chancery Lane, tried to pay off the mortgage from the