Tory MPs concerned over ‘stealth’ probate fee rise
A MASSIVE increase in probate fees for estates worth over £50,000 has prompted fierce criticism from Tory MPs who called it a £300 million stealth death tax.
Probate is the legal process for dealing with the estate of the deceased, and is the responsibility of the executors named in the will.
In most cases this will be family or friends (lay executors), though a probate solicitor may also be appointed to help fill out forms and deal with probate registry on their behalf.
Probate costs are currently capped at £215, but the sliding scale of fees being introduced starts at £300 for estates worth between £50,000 and £300,000 and ends at £20,000 for those above £2 million.
The Government expects the new fee structure to raise more than a quarter of a billion pounds annually for the Treasury – £1.5 billion over five years.
Conservative Plymouth MP Oliver Colvile said: “I have real concerns about this. We absolutely do not need a death tax – which is what this sounds like.” He said he was hoping for a “proper briefing as to what they are proposing to do and what the implications are”.
He added: “I want them to through why they decided to do talk this and what the rationale behind it is.”
Jacob Rees-Mogg, Conservative MP for North East Somerset, said: “I also have concerns about the probate tax. I see that it is likely to be judged by the national statistics people as a tax rather than as a charge, and I do not think it right that the Government should introduce stealth taxes.
“Probate charges should relate to the cost of the probate work, which is broadly irrelevant to the size of the estate.
“There might be some more work for bigger estates, but the difference will not necessarily be as large as has been proposed.”
From May 2017 probate costs are being raised via a sliding scale of fees. The first major rate increase occurs for estates worth between £300,000 and £500,000.
The issue threatens to further undermine confidence in the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, whose Budget has faced criticism. More than three-quarters of those members of the public polled on the changes to probate were against them.
At least one Tory MP is understood to have asked the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to review the decision, after he was contacted by a constituent.
Pressure on the Chancellor increased yesterday after it was claimed that the Budget is being used to destabilise him by members of his own party unhappy with his approach to leaving the EU.
One former minister said Mr Hammond’s opponents were “hunting as a pack”, because they do not trust him to pursue a hard Brexit.
The Ministry of Justice predicts that 92 per cent of estates would pay £1,000 or less. A spokesperson said: “We are introducing a fairer banded system of probate fees which will mean more than half of estates will pay nothing.
“The probate fee will always be recoverable from the estate, so executors will not end up personally out of pocket.
“Fees are necessary to maintain an accessible, world-leading justice system which puts the needs of victims and vulnerable people first.”