New £6,000 probate fee ‘brought in by back door’

Legal experts have accused the Government of sneaking in a new “death tax” by the back door without proper parliamentary scrutiny, writes Harry Brennan.

New rules will mean estates worth £2m or more pay £6,000 in probate fees, a dramatic rise from the £155 currently payable. The 3,770pc increase is less drastic than the rise originally planned, which would have meant a bill of £20,000 for the largest estates.

A “grant of probate” allows the executor to access and distribute someone’s estate after their death.

The fiercely unpopular changes have been called a “stealth death tax” and a de facto increase of existing inheritance tax (IHT). Experts have now warned that the probate fee structure will not be as thoroughly debated in Parliament as any other tax changes would.

The changes are expected to be introduced in April, but the rules are already law, it has emerged.

Making use of a parliamentary procedure called a “negative statutory instrument”, the Government is able to write the changes into law without debate.

The procedure dictates that an amendment is made to existing legislation on the day it is announced and remains so unless a motion to reject it is agreed within 40 days.

The Ministry of Justice has insisted that the new probate fee structure, which was laid before Parliament on Nov 5, is not a tax. However, many have argued there is no discernible difference between the two.

Peter Daniel Collyer Bristow, a of law firm, said: “This is effectively a new tax on top of IHT. It is very unusual to introduce a tax by a negative procedure, rather than a positive procedure, which requires an active debate by Parliament.

“By calling this a ‘probate fee’ and using a procedure that requires no parliamentary scrutiny, it is hc very unlikely the changes will be rejected.”

Unlike income tax, which operates in tiers, the probate fee structure means that being £1 over a threshold can cost thousands of pounds in extra fees. Estates worth less than £50,000 will pay nothing.