Keep up to date with my latest video.
Those court and tribunal fee increases - including a 75% probate application hike- which will be good to avoid but move fast.
New regime for data infringement complaints.
Unfair dismissals: upcoming changes.
Wives and others versus Bankrupts' creditors.
Creditors to be identified on the Register of Judgments Orders and Fines.
Just click away and have a fact sheet at the same time.
On 13 July 2026 a raft of court and tribunal fees will be increased, subject to parliamentary approval. If the step you (or your client) will be taking triggers of them then you will make a saving by taking it before the increases come into force. 170 fees will be raised by 2.6% to take account of inflation and 27 by an average of 34%.
But the eye watering hike relates to an application after a death for the grant of probate or letters of administration where the fee is up by 75% from £300 to £526 if the deceased's estate has a value of over £5,000.
Other fees on the increase are to start a case for a divorce, nullity or civil partnership dissolution which will cost £628, to make a county court claim for possession which will cost £415 and to issue a civil application on notice where the new fee will be £321. The fees for commencing money claims in the County Court or High Court are untouched.
The "Help With Fees' scheme which could earn the waiver or reduction of any of these fees on the ground of low income and capital will continue to be available.
To check whether your fee will be caught by the changes, go to https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/642/contents/made (SI 2026/642 as amended by SI 2026/665 which changes the start date).
I have awoken. 'Law Watch' is back . If you care about cat poo, you should take a look. And there is more than just poo.
You may be hearing from your solicitor any day. Not necessarily to say you have won your case but to notify you that the hourly rate they will be charging you for their future work is going up by 2.28%.
Here's why. Solicitors in England and Wales are now set guidelines each year on what it is reasonable for them to charge the opposing party when that party has lost a case or an application in proceedings and had an order for costs made against them. These charging rates can be reduced or increased by the judge who fixes the final figure but they will usually be applied. Generally, though, what the opposing party is ordered to pay cannot exceed the amount you, the client, could be charged by the solicitor if dipping into your own pocket to pay for the work. So what you could be charged can be expected to be at least the same as the guideline rates.
The 2.28% increase in the hourly rate is to account for inflation since the last increase and will apply to civil but not family cases. They are intended to be used where the judge makes a summary assessment of what the opposing party has to pay in less complicated hearings but will often be adopted for detailed assessments in more substantial litigation.
Different hourly rates are used, depending on where the solicitor is based and who in the solicitor's firm is doing the work. The higher the status of the person doing the work in the firm, the higher the guideline rate for their work. At the top are solicitors and legal executives with over eight years' experience. They are followed down by solicitors and legal executives with over four years' experience. Then other solicitors and legal executives with less experience. And, on the bottom rung, come trainee solicitors and paralegals (who aren't qualified lawyers but support the qualified lawyers in the firm).
The highest new guideline rates are in London. For firms in the City and Central London, the hourly rate tops at £422 and drops to £157. However, when it comes to very heavy commercial and corporate work conducted by any centrally based London firm, that range jumps from £579 to £210. For firms in Outer London and Dartford and Gravesend, the range is from £319 to £146.
Out of London and Dartford and Gravesend, there are two groups of locations - the more expensive group including such places as Liverpool. Manchester and Nottingham and cities and towns within Hampshire and Surrey and the less expensive group for everywhere else. So in the first group, the new hourly rate ranges from £295 to £142 and in the second group from £288 to £142. To check into which group the firm you are or are thinking of using falls, go to https://www.judiciary.uk/guideline-hourly-rates-2026/ (see pages 3 to 14).
Some important points-
Catch up with ease on the latest law through my December 'Law Watch' video. There's my take on the dilemma facing private landlords. Do they take steps to obtain possession of the dwellings they have rented out before a major part of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 comes into force on 01 May 2026 - or not? And there's my take on
Enough sun. Catch up with legal developments in a relatively painless way with a click for my latest free video. Feast on
Judge whether I need a haircut from my latest free video on law developments. This time -
In my latest free video, I cover
Pull yourself away from the box sets and suffer a few minutes in my company as we catch up with some of the latest legal developments.
Increased awards for tribunal equality, unfair dismissal, tipping and other employment type claims. An express scheme for trying contested financial remedy cases. And some new consumer laws.
Click below for a sight for sore eyes - and a fact sheet.
You haven't dipped into my 'Law Watch' video number 47? Shame on you. I there heralded a series of increases (and some decreases) in court and tribunal fees (and a couple of others) which were intended to take effect on 01 April 2025. The legislation required to give effect to the changes has since been published and will not come into force until 08 April 2025. That means you have extra time to save on the affected fees by rushing to take a step in proceedings which would be caught by the legislation or, in the case of a small number of decreases, going slow.
The legislation is the Court and Tribunal (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2025 (SI 2025/351) which you can find here -
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/351/contents/made
I've gone video mad. Can't stop myself. Here is another. This time we look at extension of the £500 voucher scheme for mediation in child disputes, where we are with the Merricks v Mastercard collective compensation claim - and the Supreme Court ruling on squatters' rights.
Click below for the video and click again for a free PDF fact sheet.
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The sunshine is out. And so is my latest video which, in response to numerous pleas, is shorter than usual. Save some money by prudent timing as many court - and some tribunal- fees are set to go up. Extraordinarily, a small number are going down! Legislation to give effect to the ups and downs can be expected to come into force - on 1st April 2025!
The video also summarises residential leasehold changes in the law. Claims by Right to Manage companies become less risky and the qualifying condition for mixed used buildings is altered. Also, qualifying for freehold acquisition and lease extension is now easier.
Do click below for a shock and have a second click to download the free PDF fact sheet.
See what has happened to my face over the Christmas break and watch - or listen, if you cannot bear it- to my latest video on what has been happening since we last met and what is in the pipeline. Feast on-
Remember that claim against Mastercard which looked like generating a few bob for around 46 million people - you are probably one of them - without the need to get out of their armchair? It kicked off in the Competition Appeal Tribunal in 2016 since when there have been hearings about this, that and the other and some appeals against decisions made. Well, sometimes the law moves slowly and this case was about as complicated as it gets. I explained the background to it all in my post of 25 November 2016 which I have reproduced below.
So what has happened? The case has been settled with Mastercard agreeing to stump up an estimated £200 million. And that means that everyone eligible will likely collect between £40 and £50. But hold on. The settlement has to be approved by the Tribunal which will consider whether or not to do so early next year. There's a big fly in the ointment. The claim, involving enormous legal costs, has been financed by litigation funders. They are in the business of financially backing litigation they reckon has a very good chance of success in return for a cut of the spoils. The bigger the award or settlement, the more they get. The funders in this case have announced that they reckon the settlement is too low and they are set to oppose it being approved. I reckon there is more than an evens chance that the settlement will be approved but hold on to the champers for a bit longer. After all, you have been holding on for nearly eight years up till now. Watch this space.
My latest video is unfit for litigant in person consumption but anyone can take a look. It's about my pick of the latest Civil Procedure Rule amendments and Practice Direction 171. Some Fixed Recoverable Costs. Some Writs and Warrants of Possession. And a pinch of Brexit. Do click below.
Hello 'Law Watchers'. It's me again.
My latest video covers new laws on
*the sharing of restaurant tips among staff and
* getting your money back for loads of scams which lead to instructing your bank to make a payment to the scammer's bank on or after 07 October 2024
PLUS we look at the reduction in the Court Funds Office's special account interest rate which impacts on the calculation of personal injury special losses interest
PLUS upcoming increases in certain land registry and land charges registry fees
Just click below
I know I won't get you off the beach. Check out the latest legal developments amid the sand. I look at the latest ruling on air flight delay compensation claims, two major court decisions on expert evidence and something for family practitioners and anyone else caught up in a financial remedy application - matrimonialisation.
Dry off and click.
Do feast on the latest developments in civil and family law with my free video (after all, who would pay?)
This time we look at the new code of practice on firing and rehiring (ahead of the government outlawing it). How to get full legal aid under the 'exceptional funding' scheme and the latest application stats. The reduction in the Court Funds Office special account rate which impacts on the calculation of personal injury special losses interest. And the danger of remaining shtum when asked by an opponent to enter into out-of-court mediation.
In this month's free video, I go through-
In my Law Watch video episode 33, I warned of proposed increases in various court fees for civil and family cases along with certain tribunal, probate and Court of Protection fees. Most of the proposals are to be implemented on 01 May 2024 (by statutory instrument SI 2024/476 which may not be readily available for public enjoyment for a couple of days). Some 172 fees are hit by a 10 per cent rise.
But the proposal to increase the court fee for starting a divorce case has been dropped.
For those on benefits or low incomes, the Help With Fees scheme may lead to no fee or a reduced fee.
For anyone about to take a step which involves payment of one of the fees hit by the changes, avoid the increase by taking that step before 01 May 2024. That's where the finger and its pulling out come in.
And if you want to buy my book for a snip, it is still half-price on Amazon !
