The Ministry of Justice have this week announced significant change to Probate charges in England and Wales.
A Grant of Probate (or Grant of Letters of Administration), is a document often needed by Personal Representatives of a deceased person to administer their estate.
At present, the fee to apply for Probate via a solicitor is £155 or, when a solicitor is not used, the fee is £215.
The Government have announced that the new fee structure for applying for Probate will now be based upon the value of the deceased’s estate as follows:-
Whilst the new fee structure may eliminate the court fee for estates under £50,000, it should be noted that in some cases, certain estates under £50,000 may be dealt with without the need for Probate and as such, would not pay a fee. The consultation therefore represents a huge rise in the fees to be collected by the Probate Registry.
The rise in fees are expected to come in from May 2017.
Whilst the consultation was objected to by numerous bodies, the Government considers the new fees to be justified to generate revenue to fund the Court Service.