Probate Fee Increase on Hold

20 Sep 2019

On 5th November 2018, the Government announced their plans to significantly increase probate fees – the charge paid for administering an Estate on death.
Under the draft legislation, the probate fees were due to dramatically rise from a flat fee of £215.00, to a sliding scale, with a maximum fee of £6,000.00 for Estates valued at over £2,000,000.00.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice, Lucy Frazer QC, declared “this new branded fee model represents a fair and more progressive way to pay for probate services”. However, the
announcement was met with outcry, both from the public and the legal sector, with Law Society President, Simon Davis, commenting that, to increase the probate fees in this manner “would have
upped the level of inheritance tax by the back door”.
The fee increase was due to come into effect in April 2019, following a scheduled vote in the House of Commons. However due to ongoing Brexit negotiations, Parliament have been unable to undertake the vote in order to approve the motion.
Now that Parliament has been prorogued, the motion has lapsed. Therefore, Parliament will need to reintroduce the order in the next parliamentary session if they plan to continue with the proposed
fee increase.
The legal world will need to wait to see whether the Government picks up where they left off in the next Parliamentary Sessions. Until that time, Probate applicants will welcome the reprieve.

 

If you’d like to know more about our probate service, please call 01202 484242 or email enquiries@williamsthompson.co.uk