New Government Proposals for Fee Increases on Probate Applications

The Ministry of Justice has recently launched a new consultation on proposed increases to the fees paid when applying for a grant of probate. The consultation will run from 8th July until 23rd September 2021.

Previous fee increase proposals, which could have resulted in some estates paying fees up to thousands of pounds, were scrapped in 2019. Since that point, the application fees have remained £155.00 for applications made by professionals and £215.00 for applications made by members of the public applying in person. 

The new proposals would see the fees increase to a flat fee of £273.00 regardless of whether the application is made by a professional or a lay person.

In the introduction to their consultation, the Ministry of Justice have stated three key aims which they hope to achieve by this increase:

1. To remove the discrepancy in fees between applications made by professionals and non-professionals

2. To mitigate, or even eliminate, the need for the taxpayer to subsidise the probate service 

3. To increase income for the Courts and Tribunals Service which in turn ensures access to justice 

The Ministry of Justice go on to explain that the probate fees as they currently stand have been in place for 7 years and were set to cover the costs of the probate application process at that time. Since the fees were last set, it is reported that the cost of the probate application process has risen, leaving a deficit which is paid for by the taxpayer rather than by the estate for which probate is being applied for. 

If approved, the Ministry of Justice have an intention to introduce the new fee in the early part of 2022.

Whilst many probate applications are not contentious, they are still classed as an application to the Courts and have the need for Court fees to be paid. The fee increase is intended to avoid the need for public funds to be used to make up the shortfall in processing the applications which are private rather than public matters. 

The full proposal and supporting documentation can be reviewed on the gov.uk website – https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/aligning-the-fees-for-grants-of-probate-to-cost-recovery 

The contents of this article do not constitute legal advice and are provided for general information purposes only.

1. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/999880/aligning-probate-fees-cost-recovery-con-doc.pdf