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1005645

registered interest
date	12/11/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate: Fees and Charges
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice on 5 November (HCWS1066), what assessment they have made of the estimate by the Institute for Legacy Management that the proposed rise in probate fees could cost charities £10 million a year in lost legacy income.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL11416
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2018 answer text <p>We acknowledge the benefit of assessing this impact and we are already aware of the assessment made by the Institute for Legacy Management. As far as we are aware, the Institute for Legacy Management have not shared the detail behind their data with us. However, we would be very happy to carefully consider any detail behind the assessment should they be open to sharing this with the department.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 26/11/2018 15:50:27 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

712369

registered interest
date	20/03/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate: Fees and Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what her Department's rationale was for introducing a sliding scale of probate fees based on the worth of an estate.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	68494
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/04/2017 answer text <p>The Government set out its rationale for reforming the fees for grants of probate in its response to consultation on the fees published on Friday 24 February.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to providing a modern, world-leading justice system which is proportionate and accessible. The best way to protect access to justice is with a properly funded courts and tribunals service.</p><p> </p><p>Fees are necessary to support an effective courts and tribunals system that supports victims and vulnerable people, and is easy for ordinary people to use. In 2015/16, the Government spent around £1.9 billion on our courts and tribunals and recovered only around £700m through fees and other income. We do not believe that the taxpayer should continue to meet all of this cost.</p><p> </p><p>We are getting rid of flat fees and replacing them with a fair, banded, structure related to the value of the estate. This includes raising the fee threshold from £5,000 to £50,000 and lifting an extra 25,000 estates out of fees altogether.</p><p> </p><p>More than half of estates in England and Wales will pay no probate fee and over 90 per cent of estates will pay £1,000 or less. The fees will be implemented on a banded structure, increasing in line with estate values, meaning higher fees are paid by those who can afford to do so. No one will pay more than 1 per cent of the total estate value.</p><p> </p><p>Using the authoritative ONS projections, we have recently improved our estimates of the number of estates in England and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>With this more accurate data, we have produced a refreshed distribution of the estate values table. We have also updated our estimates to take account of HMRC’s most recent data on the distribution of estate values. <em> </em>These minor adjustments to Table 1 (page 11) of the consultation response do not alter the substance of, or rationale for, the proposals on which we consulted, or the Government’s decision to proceed with the changes. I have placed amended versions of the Government response to consultation in the libraries of the Houses.<em> </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Value of estate (before inheritance tax)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion of All estates in England and Wales</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proposed Fee</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Up to £50,000 or exempt from requiring a grant of probate</p></td><td><p>53%</p></td><td><p>£0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Exceeds £50,000 but does not exceed £300,000</p></td><td><p>25%</p></td><td><p>£300</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Exceeds £300,000 but does not exceed £500,000</p></td><td><p>12%</p></td><td><p>£1,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Exceeds £500,000 but does not exceed £1m</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td><td><p>£4,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Exceeds £1m but does not exceed £1.6m</p></td><td><p>1%</p></td><td><p>£8,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Exceeds £1.6m but does not exceed £2m</p></td><td><p>0.3%</p></td><td><p>£12,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Above £2m</p></td><td><p>0.6%</p></td><td><p>£20,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency North East Hertfordshire answering member printed Sir Oliver Heald question first answered 18/04/2017 08:26:46 answering member 69 label Biography information for Sir Oliver Heald
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

712018

registered interest
date	16/03/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate: Fees and Charges
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the rationale behind the new rates for grant of probate announced in the budget.
tabling member printed	Lord Myners
uin	HL6156
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2017 answer text <p>The Government set out its rationale for reforming the fees for grants of probate in its response to consultation on the fees published on Friday 24 February.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to providing a modern, world-leading justice system which is proportionate and accessible. The best way to protect access to justice is with a properly funded courts and tribunals service.</p><p> </p><p>Fees are necessary to support an effective courts and tribunals system that supports victims and vulnerable people, and is easy for ordinary people to use. In 2015/16, the Government spent around £1.9 billion on our courts and tribunals and recovered only around £700m through fees and other income. We do not believe that the taxpayer should continue to meet all of this cost.</p><p> </p><p>A key change will be the threshold under which no fee is payable increasing from £5,000 to £50,000. More than half of estates in England and Wales will pay no probate fees. The fees will be implemented on a banded structure, increasing in line with estate values, meaning higher fees are paid by those who can afford to do so. Over 90 per cent of estates will pay £1,000 or less for this service and no one will pay more than 1 per cent of the total estate in fees.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 27/03/2017 11:16:24 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	3869 label Biography information for Lord Myners

710393

registered interest
date	13/03/2017
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate: Fees and Charges
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between the value of a deceased person’s estate and the cost of grant of probate; and whether the increases in the latter announced in the Budget represent the costs associated with the grant or will raise a surplus in addition to those costs.
tabling member printed	Lord Myners
uin	HL5997
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2017 answer text <p>On Friday 24 February 2017, after careful consideration of responses to consultation, the Government announced its intention to introduce a new banded system of fees for grants of probate, subject to Parliamentary approval. The original Government consultation and the response can both be found on the Ministry of Justice consultation hub website.</p><p> </p><p>In 2015/16, the Government spent around £1.9 billion on our courts and tribunals and recovered only around £700m through fees and other income.</p><p> </p><p>The new probate fees are fair and proportionate in that they are linked to the value of the estate. Our plan to raise the threshold under which no probate fee is payable from £5,000 to £50,000 will ensure that more than half of estates will pay no fee at all. No one will pay more than 1% of the total estate value in fees.</p><p> </p><p>Parliament has given the Lord Chancellor the power, through section 180 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, to set court and tribunal fees above the cost of the service. All of the additional income that the fees will raise must be reinvested back into our courts and tribunals.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to providing a modern, world-leading justice system which is proportionate and accessible. Fees are necessary to support an effective courts and tribunals system that supports victims and vulnerable people, and is easy for ordinary people to use.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 21/03/2017 15:24:12 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	3869 label Biography information for Lord Myners

457104

registered interest
date	02/03/2016
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate: Fees and Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much revenue he expects to accrue to the public purse from changes in the level of probate fees in each of the next five financial years.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	29432
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/03/2016 answer text <p>The information requested is set out in the published Consultation Document which can be located at: <a href="https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/fee-proposals-for-grants-of-probate" target="_blank">https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/fee-proposals-for-grants-of-probate</a>.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 10/03/2016 15:23:09 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

456533

registered interest
date	01/03/2016
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate: Fees and Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much accrued to the public purse in probate charges in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.
tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
uin	29253
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2016 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice is responsible for administering probate.</p><p> </p><p>The amount of fee income accrued to the public purse in probate fee charges (after remission) increased from £19m in 2013/14 to £41.5m in 2014/15 following fee increases introduced in April 2014.</p><p> </p><p>The annual cost to the Ministry of Justice of administering probate in 2014/15 was £42.5m.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage grouped question UIN 29255 question first answered 04/03/2016 14:43:22 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

456534

registered interest
date	01/03/2016
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate: Fees and Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times the charge for probate has been increased since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Bishop Auckland
tabling member printed	Helen Goodman
uin	29254
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2016 answer text <p>The fees payable on application for a non-contentious grant of probate have been increased twice since 2010.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 04/03/2016 14:39:55 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	1484 label Biography information for Helen Goodman

456021

registered interest
date	29/02/2016
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate: Fees and Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent increase in probate fees on the number of people who seek to avoid such fees by moving property into joint names to remove the need for a grant of probate.
tabling member constituency	Redditch
tabling member printed	Karen Lumley
uin	28786
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/03/2016 answer text <p>The Government published a consultation on proposals to reform fees for applications for a grant of probate on 18 February. Alongside the consultation, an impact assessment was published which included a sensitivity analysis that accounted for a range of fee avoidance behaviours. This will be reviewed again in the Government response. The consultation will run for six weeks, closing on 1 April.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 08/03/2016 11:08:29 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	4023 label Biography information for Karen Lumley

454769

registered interest
date	24/02/2016
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Probate: Fees and Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with (a) members of the public and (b) law professionals on proposed changes to the system of probate fees charged to activate a will.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	28179
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2016 answer text <p>The Government published a consultation on proposals to reform fees for applications for a grant of probate on 18 February. The consultation will run for six weeks, closing on 1 April. It is open to all members of the public, law professionals or other persons to respond.</p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 03/03/2016 09:44:18 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell