Probate Fee Hike Delayed

The government’s controversial move to raise probate fees dramatically, by almost 4,000% for larger estates, will not come into force on 1^st April as planned.

Because of the disruption to Parliamentary routine caused by the Brexit debates, the procedure to bring the new fees into force has been held up, pushing back the start date by at least three weeks.

Many MPs and Lords see the imposition of the new fees as an abuse of government powers, and have announced their intention to do what they can to block or delay them.

Michael Cutler, head of Coleman’s Private Client department, explains “People winding up estates now pay a flat fee for a grant of probate, calculated to cover the cost of issuing the grant.  The new fee structure, a sliding scale depending on the value of the estate, is designed not just to pay for the issue of the grant of probate, but to raise a large surplus which the government will use to run the courts and tribunals system.”

“This is effectively a tax on the bereaved, and that is not fair”, says Cutler.

Categorised in: Wills, Probate and Trusts

This post was written by Colemans Solicitors LLP