The online system for England and Wales probate applications is to be extended further, after a Statutory Instrument was laid before the House of Lords last week. The Non-Contentious Probate (Amendment) Rules 2019 updates previous legislation to allow solicitors and probate practitioners to apply for grants of probate without an invitation from a registry. It… Read More EW to extend online probate service
STEP met HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) this week, together with The Law Society and Solicitors for the Elderly, to obtain an update on the delays and disruption to the Probate Service in England and Wales. HMCTS gave us the following update on work undertaken since our last meeting on 14 May: It has… Read More EW probate delays and disruption: an update
The UK Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has published its first report of its review into inheritance tax (IHT). The report, in which STEP is widely quoted, finds that the process for completing IHT forms is too complex and old fashioned, and that too many people are having to fill them in unnecessarily. The OTS… Read More OTS report supports STEP’s calls for simplification
This Blog was updated on 26/11/2018 – for latest developments, please see the update at the end of the article below. The government has announced amendments to the procedure for applying for probate in England and Wales, with less than a month’s notice. The Statutory Instrument (The Non-Contentious Probate (Amendment) Rules 2018) will come into… Read More Government changes E&W probate procedure without consultation
Update 4 July 2018: STEP has liaised with the DWP on this technical issue. Please see its response below. If you work in the probate field you will be very familiar with the process of submitting a statutory advertisement, (under the Trustee Act 1925 for England, or the Trustee Act 1958 in Northern Ireland) in… Read More Think you’re covered with a statutory notice? Watch out for a DWP claim
It is a pleasure to be writing to you for the first time as Chair of STEP’s England & Wales Regional Committee to let you know about the work we are doing on behalf of members in the region. We’ve been performing well, with 93% of member renewals for 2017 received and 350 new members… Read More STEP England & Wales Biannual Statement July 2017
The government’s threat to radically increase probate fees next month (Probate fee rise ‘a new tax on bereaved families’) may be receding, following a meeting of the House of Commons Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments on 29 March. Using some very welcome common sense, the committee raises the issue (para 1.12) that it is a… Read More Probate fees – will common sense prevail?
UPDATE 21/04/2017: the Ministry of Justice has abandoned the new fee regime due to lack of parliamentary time prior to the 2017 General Election. See more information. What is probate? When someone dies, you need to get the legal right to deal with their property, money and possessions, and to do so you need a grant… Read More New probate fees: a guide for the public
As many of you will have seen reported in the STEP UK News Digest and elsewhere, the Ministry of Justice recently issued a consultation paper with its proposals to reform application fees for grants of probate in England and Wales (see news story). While STEP supports the Ministry of Justice’s proposal to modernise the courts… Read More Probate application fees: our concerns
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