Increase in UK Probate Court Fees

When a dearly beloved family member passes, and the funeral has been arranged, one of the often painful tasks is to begin dividing up the possessions of the deceased, which can include possessions, finances and of course the property they lived in. This will involve getting a probate, and going through a court system, but why are the fees for these court sessions rising?

A good beginning point is to establish what a probate is, and how the entire process works when traversing the court system. A probate is a path to legally verifying the will of a deceased person in a court, and therefore establishing it to be the last authentic documentation of the departed’s wishes. This is important because it is the first step in beginning the task of resolving family claims to individual objects or the property itself, and allows division of all the assets and property to start, as without a probate this process can not commence. 

In order to apply for probate, you’ll need to send some details to the right government department, and include certain things. You’ll need to include a downloadable probate application form, an official copy of the death certificate of the deceased, the inheritance tax form, the original will and three copies of it, as well as any amendments and additions made to it, and finally, there will be a fee for the probate. Once these things have been sorted, you’ll need to swear an oath to make the probate legal, which is where you confirm all the information is correct to the best of your knowledge.

Probate Court Fees
However, in recent times the Government has begun implementing fees for the usage of the court system to get a probate created, in order to reduce the cost of the sessions and tribunals. However, the parameters have changed, so any properties under the value of £50,000 are exempt from this new set of fees. For properties and estates that are worth between £50,000 and £350,000, a fee of £300 will be deducted. £1000 will be taken as fees for properties and estates worth between £351,000 and £500,000, and a £4000 charge is given on properties and estates that have a value of between £501,000 and £1,000,000. There will be £8000 for properties and estates worth between £1,100,000 and £1,600,000, and a fee of £12,000 on properties and estates which are worth more than £1,600,000 and reaching the maximum of £2,000,000. After this, all properties over the £2,000,000 mark will be subject to a fee of £20,000. This is a continuation of fees raised in the last year, which created a fee of £215 for personal applications which weren’t done through a solicitor, and a fee of £155 for those applications which were completed with the aid of a solicitor.

New Probate Court fees 
As you can probably deduce, the fees incurred by the acquisition of a probate will increase with the rising value of a house or estate. The entire process is of raising probate fees is to ensure that some of the expenses are paid back, so it’s definitely worth knowing the amount you’ll be required to pay. This will help you to reduce the likelihood of unforeseen hassles that can sometimes emerge during an already difficult time. 

As getting probate is the first official step in dividing up possessions, financial assets and the property itself, it’s extremely beneficial that you can do this in the quickest and easiest format available, so you have more time to be there for the families and individuals affected by the passing of someone important.

Location: Bocking End, Braintree CM7 9AE, UK