New Probate Charges: Stealth Death Tax or Exorbitant "Fees" ?

Fury over 'sneaky' £6,000 death tax set to hit almost 300,000 families after Ministers classed it as a 'fee' in alleged bid to avoid Parliamentary scrutiny, MailOnline

"Under the new system, the charge will rise according to the value of the estate. It is estimated 280,000 families a year will have to pay more, with 56,000 facing bills of between £2,500 and £6,000. The Ministry of Justice is expected to rake in an extra £185 million a year from the charges by 2022/23".


The new "fees" (Kingsley Napley)


New death tax to hit grieving families: Fury as ministers hike probate costs, This is Money

New probate fees are a death tax in all but name, Economia


"A callous, underhand tax raid on bereaved families", James Coney, Sunday Times, February 10, 2019.

"Some ghastly piece of legislation was always going to be passed while everyone was distracted by Brexit. Now we know what it is: a whopping hike in probate fees that will cost grieving families £145m in its first year. This has been quietly shuffled through the back corridors of parliament and received its latest approval on Thursday. Some families will see the bill for administering the assets of a loved one rise from £155 to £6,000 — on top of any inheritance tax due. As if one tax on the dead were not too many, we have two".


Row over the 2,700% hike to probate fees reignites, as it emerges they WILL officially be a tax despite Government claims they won't, 13 March, MailOnline