Probate Fees Hike

Probate Fees Hike
 
A Grant of Probate is a document issued by the Probate Registry giving executors named in a Will the legal authority to administer the estate of a deceased person.

Probate professionals and bereaved families alike suffered a collective and significant fright back in 2019 awaiting the introduction of drastic increases to the cost of obtaining a Grant of Probate – set to be as much as £20,000 based on a sliding scale.  We all then breathed a collective sigh of relief as that proposal was shelved, although many were frantically submitting applications just in case the measures were pushed through.

Another round of increases has been announced, but fortunately these are nowhere near as swingeing.

At the moment, the cost of applying for a Grant of Probate depends on whether a professional is applying - £155 - or an individual (known as a ‘personal application’) - £215. 

The new proposals set to take effect in early 2022, will mean a flat fee of £273 for all applications, regardless of the value of the estate.

The reason for the increase?  The Ministry of Justice claim that the increase is needed to cover the administrative cost of running the service, currently operating at a loss it claims.  Interestingly, the 2019 proposals were intended to generate extra revenue to help subsidise increasing costs across the court service as a whole.  At that time, the probate service wasn’t loss-making as it now appears to be!

A consultation period on the proposed increased has recently ended and so we await the outcome with interest.

If you have any questions about matters covered in this article, please contact Clare Young on 07802 618 132 or at clare.young@legalstudio.co.uk


Posted By: Clare Young
Posted: 01 October 2021
2021 09 01 333 Probate Fees Hike