New ‘death tax’ will cost some estates up to £6k

The Government is pushing ahead with plans to raise probate fees by up to 3,770.

The proposals will see estates worth £2m or more pay £6,000 in probate fees, up from £155 currently. However, the increase is a reduction on the original plans, which would have seen a bill of £20,000 for the largest estates. Estates with a value of between £1m and £1.6m will have to pay £4,000. The Government said the changes were necessary to fund the courts system and were a “fair and more progressive” way of paying. It estimated the move would raise £185m a year by 2022/23. Lucy Frazer, the justice minister, said: “Our system will see thousands of bereaved families paying no probate fees at all – protecting 25,000 estates each year. We have listened closely to concerns around early proposals. Fees will never be more than 0.5% of the estate’s value and are recoverable from the estate.”

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