Posts tagged “Probate”

Plans to increase probate fees for some to £6,000 have been approved this month, following the most recent meeting of the government committee that was set up to debate the issue. 
 
The Committee members voted by nine votes to eight to approve a statutory instrument (SI) to replace the current flat fee with a sliding scale of charges, based on the value of an estate. 
When someone dies the process of releasing their assets is called probate*. This must be completed before beneficiaries can receive their share of the estate. 
 
The exception is when all the property is jointly-owned and money passes to a spouse or civil partner. 
 
If you are dealing with probate for the first time this can all be quite daunting, so here are some things you might want to know.