On the 2nd of March 2017 I read the following headlines about: Probate
Worth a read......
•Probate fees set to rise by up to 93 times their current level for families
•Fees would reach £20,000 for the most valuable estates, constituting a stealth tax on death
•Families face having to pay these bills upfront in order to gain access to their inheritance
The Government’s decision to increase probate fees from £215, or £155 if families are using a solicitor, to a tiered system based on the value of the estate is patently unfair for many families according to Kings Court Trust, one of the UK’s largest estate administration specialists.
While those inheriting estates worth less than £50,000 will no longer pay for probate, all other estates will be subject to increased fees in line with the value of the estate in question. For example, the fees associated with an estate valued at £150,000 will increase by 40% to £300, while a family inheriting an estate worth £500,000 would need to find £4,000 to cover the cost of probate. The fees increase dramatically on a sliding scale, up to a maximum of £20,000 for the wealthiest estates.
Interesting....
