Clients affected by probate delays are being forced to cash in investments and savings to bridge the gap.
Research by Downing found 76 per cent of advisers said clients have had to cash in investments as a result of the delays in the past two years.
Around 34 per cent of clients have had to borrow money to pay for probate with 27 per cent saying delays have made it difficult for clients to pay IHT bills.
According to the data, 22 per cent of advisers said probate delays have triggered family disputes.
Probate delays are easing with government data showing the mean time to grant probate is now around nine weeks compared to a year ago when it was 15-and-a-half weeks.
Despite this, 33 per cent of advisers said a lot of clients had experienced problems with probate delays in the past two years, with a further 59 per cent reporting clients suffering problems.
Mark Dunn, head of retail sales at Downing said: “It is good news that the average time to grant probate is falling and is down significantly on last year.
“However, in more complex cases delays are still a major concern for clients.
“That is demonstrated by the impact of delays on client finances shown in the research with advisers reporting that clients have to cash in investments and savings and even borrow money in order to cope while delays are sorted out.”
Just six per cent of advisers said they had no clients who had faced probate delay issues with a further two per cent not expressing a view.
alina.khan@ft.com