Have You Heard About The New Proposed Probate Registry Fees?

James Shingleton, Solicitor at Brearleys Solicitors, intends to support any campaign to object to the Government’s proposal to increase Probate Registry fees. James said “ This is going to affect every single one of us. Despite 84% of respondents, including myself, opposing the proposal to increase Probate Registry Court fees, the Ministry of Justice has decided to go ahead with their proposal to introduce a new fee structure. The Probate Registry fee for issuing a Grant of Representation will be determined by the value of a deceased’s estate. It is completely unfair. The same administrative role is carried out by the Court for issuing a Grant in an estate worth £100,000, to an estate worth £600,000. It is therefore unfair to charge a fee of £300 for an estate worth £100,000 and a £4,000 Court fee for an estate worth £600,000. Totally disproportionate. This will really affect people at a time when they are dealing with a bereavement. To have to stump up the cost of a large Court fee, for basically a piece of paper, is basically another stealth tax. The increases will likely become law in May 2017 and therefore we need to campaign against these changes before parliamentary approval is obtained.”