from The Times
Plans to raise probate fees paid by bereaved families by up to £20,000 have been ditched before June’s election.
Thousands would have faced a sharp rise in probate costs under proposals described by critics as a “stealth death taxâ€.
The decision is likely to raise questions about whether Liz Truss, the justice secretary, remains in post after the election. She pushed through the decision to go ahead with the change, which had been resisted by predecessors, and has also upset the judiciary in other ways. The Ministry of Justice confirmed last night that there would be no time to get the new fees through parliament.
Estates worth £300,000 to £500,000 would have paid a £1,000 fee under the proposals, while those worth £2 million or…
.......( behind a pay wall )
more will have to pay £20,000 to execute the wishes of the deceased's will.
Currently, a £215 flat fee applies if probate is applied for by friends or family, or £155 if a solicitor completes the process.
( completed from the Telegraph)
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I suspect it's a pause rather than abandonment. Compared with fees in Employment Tribunals, enacted under the coalition, this is pretty mild as regressive charges go.
Truss though was pretty much out of her depth. Justice is a senior office of State comparable to, and perhaps more demanding than, Home or Foreign Secretary.
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The government got itself into a fix because their previous manifesto promised not to raise a whole range of taxes. They didnt expect to win an outright majority so included stuff to trade with in expected coaltion talks.
Of course they actually won and were saddled with a manifesto not entirely to their liking. Needing money they had to be creative to find things they could tax.
Pundits reckon that the next manifesto will be much shorter and will restore the government's ability to tax more widely so maybe these steep probate fee rises will not reappear.
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Expect the promise not to raise income taxes and the triple lock on pensions to quietly disappear.
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Labour has promised to keep the triple lock, it might shame the Tories into matching it.
I hope so - there were good reasons for it, not least that pensions were not enough to live on and the triple lock would make them rise with respect to average earnings. They might of course say that has been addressed by the new state pension, although that is still only c. £8,300.
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Well they won't have better time to ditch it thatn now and it does lay them open to criticism that pensioners have been fairly immune from benefit cuts to date. I expect it to go
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>> Well they won't have better time to ditch it thatn now and it does lay
>> them open to criticism that pensioners have been fairly immune from benefit cuts to date.
>> I expect it to go
I'd expect it to be watered down with the 2% guarantee going. Inflation protection will remain but perhaps CPI rather than RPI linked.
The the third lock, wages, mightbe difficult to lose too bearing in mind 'losses' c/p inflation only if wage growth takes off.
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Tripple lock? If it doesn't get a specific mention , in print, in the Tory manifesto this time out, its in the bin.
As far as probate fees go, it is currently a ludicrously cheap service, and I see no reason not to ramp it up by the size of the estate.
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>>As far as probate fees go, it is currently a ludicrously cheap service
Service? They photocopy a couple of bits of paper and give you a certificate; further copies thereof £10 each.
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Under the proposed fees, my late Aunts Probate fee was going to be £4K. I did all the groundwork but just got overwhelmed by paperwork. We found over 20 separate savings accounts, some with as little as £3.42, others substantially more, plus another 12 funds being looked after by her IFA, plus numerous share holdings and several NS & I funds.
And a bed elevated on bricks because she wouldn't spend the money on having an electrically adjustable bed to help her blood circulation.
I engaged a recommended solicitor who has concentrated on getting it all together before the proposed fee increase, and Probate papers will be signed next week. Consequently her fees have increased as I handed over some of the paperwork & admin
In between my self indulgent overseas hols ( taking my old Mum to Moraira next Saturday with a couple of friends) I'm working 6/7 long days a week at her flat getting it ready for market. I took it down to bare concrete floors, and the kitchen and several horrible ( to me) old pieces of furniture have found new homes via two Freecycle sites.
Another 10/12 hour day working there looms, but the light is definitely on at the end of the tunnel
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Snap poll puts the brakes on rise in probate fees - Bromptonaut
