The UK government has been discussing an increase of probate court fees for over a year, but due to the upcoming general election, they have decided not to proceed.
The proposal was for a 9,300% increase in fees to the current rate of £215 per application. This meant that estates worth over £50,000 would have to pay a much larger court fee that could be anywhere from £300 to £20,000 pounds. The UK government said that this significant jump in fees was to raise over £300 million a year in order to fund the courts and tribunal services.
The reason why the proposal has been put on hold is because there is not sufficient parliamentary time to implement the fees before the General Election is held in June. Ultimately, it will be up to the future Government to decide whether to reinstate the higher probate court fees, but there is no guarantee whether this will happen or not if the Conservatives win.
This is not the first time that the Ministry of Justice has attempted to introduce higher court fees. These plans are only the latest that have been met with opposition from lawyers, judges, MPs, and lay people. The problem is that the fees become a tax burden on the estate so if the property is cash poor but property rich the Executors/Administrators will need to fund the cash from their own income or get a loan from the bank to pay for the fees as nothing can be done until a Grant/Letters of Administration are obtained.
If you would like more information on how Freeman Harris can assist you or your family with probate and estate administration, please contact our team on 020 7790 7311 or email us at contact@freemanharris.co.uk.