The Kings Court Trust Blog

Three animal welfare charities have mounted an appeal to challenge a judge’s decision which allowed a woman’s estranged daughter to overturn her Will.

Government proposals unveiled this week could result in a hundredfold increase in probate fees for some families, reports The Financial Times.  The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published its plans to reduce the £1.1bn annual cost of running the court system by introducing a revised probate fees structure in England and Wales.

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.

A recent article by The Telegraph has detailed the emotional stress that dealing with the death of a loved one can cause, including the anxiety of having to deal with the taxman when it comes to Inheritance Tax (IHT).

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

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.

We occasionally come across stories in the news relating to high profile artworks and artefacts that have been left to public bodies in high-profile wills, but the latest news relates to artwork owned by the late Lucian Freud that has been left to various UK galleries in lieu of inheritance tax (IHT), The Art Newspaper reports.