Probate fees to rise to £6,000

New probate fees, due to come into force from April 2019, will see a banded system of probate fees for all estates valued over £50,000.

Currently a flat fee of £155 is payable upon a probate application made by an accountant (as an authorised provider of probate services) or £215 for an application made by an individual. These fees were set in 2014 and raise £45m per year, which covers the cost of running the Probate Registry.

The current flat rate system will be replaced with a banded pricing structure linked to the value of the estate (before inheritance tax). The new charges will hit larger estates valued at over £2m with a £6,000 bill, although original proposals to charge up to £20,000 have been dropped. See table below for proposed charges.

There will also be a cap on fees at no more than 0.5% of the value of the estate. At the same time, the estate value threshold will rise from £5,000 to £50,000.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice Lucy Frazer QC MP said: “For those who do pay, around 80% of estates will pay £750 or less, and all income raised will be spent on running the courts and tribunal service.” “This new banded fee model represents a fair and more progressive way to pay for probate services compared to the current flat fee.”

The fees will raise £145m per annum from 2019/20 and will be ring-fenced to fund the courts and tribunal service. In 2016/17, the courts service cost £1.6bn in running costs but recovered less than half of that in fees (£740m).

The 2018 draft Order still needs to be approved by the House of Commons, but the fees are set to come into effect from 1 April 2019.

Mark Speed, Probate Advisor and Personal Tax Manager at Ward Williams says:

“There are two ways of looking at the new fees – a stealth tax designed to hit those with valuable properties (which will also be subject to Inheritance Tax) – or a justified move to support the courts service. Either way, it would seem fair to say that the new charges don’t bear much correlation to the actual costs of obtaining probate.”

*Mark Speed is also a member of The Society of Will Writers.

Value of estate (before inheritance tax)	Proposed fee
Up to £50,000 or exempt from requiring a grant of probate	£0
£50,000 - £300,000	£250
£300,000 - £500,000	£750
£500,000 - £1m	£2,500
£1m - £1.6m	£4,000
£1.6m - £2m	£5,000
Above £2m	£6,000

Find out more about our Probate and Estate Administration Services

For further information on Ward Williams Probate Service and/or advice on dealng with an estate please use the contact Malcolm McKinnell or Mark Speed on probateservices@wardwilliams.co.uk