Probate fees bear no relation to service costs

SIR – Ralph J Cross is spot on in referring to the increase in probate fees as “indefensible” (Letters, February 12). However, he should not assume that the new charges have any relation to the cost of the service.

Lucy Frazer, the parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, confirmed some time ago, in response to an MP’S question, that the MOJ has not costed the work. The justification given is that the courts service as a whole is costing too much to run. The ministry has simply looked at the probate service, realised that its users are sitting on a pot of money, and decided to have some of it. It’s a tax.

It is particularly galling that a Conservative administration should introduce an arbitrary charge for a public service, and it’s a precedent that any administration led by Jeremy Corbyn would surely be delighted to follow. Presumably it has not occurred to the MOJ to cost all parts of the service and apply the charges fairly wherever they arise.

I cannot help but be reminded of British Leyland in the Sixties, when it was nobody’s job to know what any given model cost to make. For some time, therefore, Minis left the factory gate at £35 less than they had cost to produce.

SIR – Probate fees only arise when one has to “prove” a will.

There is no need to prove a will when the deceased’s assets are held jointly with another. This is a very simple and efficient way to avoid these fees, and also to ensure that any estate can be wound up within weeks, rather than months or years.