As of Monday 14th October 2019, the proposal to increase probate fees has been withdrawn. Click here to read our latest blog post on the matter. Probate Registries in England and Wales are currently reporting severe delays on Grant of Probate and Grant of Letter of Administration applications. Due to the rollout of a new IT case management system, the process has been dramatically slowed down. This means that it’s taking longer for the Registries to process applications for Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration.  

According to the Law Society Gazette, the Ministry of Justice plans to close local probate registries and move the work to just one central location in Birmingham. Currently, there are ten remaining regional probate registries in England and Wales and staff have reportedly been informed of plans to scale back operations and shut down the sites in due course.

On 17th January 2019, HM Courts & Tribunals Service announced that their online service for probate applications would be expanded to make applying for probate simpler and easier. It is claimed that this updated service will enable people applying for probate to do so from the comfort of their own home. The system allows up to four joint Executors to apply, pay and even swear a statement of truth online. This reduces the need for Executors to visit a probate registry or solicitor’s office.

On the 5th of November 2018, an update on probate fees was provided by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice, Lucy Frazer QC MP. It was announced that new legislation to implement a new, banded structure of fees for a Grant of Probate (also known as Grant of Representation) has been presented before Parliament.

The death of David Bowie last month caused a generation to mourn the loss of one of the world's most charismatic musical stars.  The man associated with numerous wild and wacky on-stage personas was perhaps one of the last people you would associate with planning for his death and making sure that his financial situation was left in a highly organised manner.

Ordinary individuals inheriting assets from overseas could risk criminal charges if they miscalculate the tax owed, reports The Telegraph.

The BBC has reported that the cost of public health funerals, also known as paupers’ funerals, has risen by almost 30% to £1.7m in the past four years.  The number of these funerals taking place has also risen by 11% over the same period.

Following sustained and increasingly vocal lobbying from customers and consumer groups, a number of leading UK banks have increased the amount of money that can be released from deceased customer accounts to their grieving families without first having to apply for probate, This Is Money reports.

Kings Court Trust, one of the UK’s leading estate administration specialists, has played a key role in the creation of a new probate apprenticeship that aims to provide increased career opportunities for young people within the legal services sector.