LATEST VIDEO: BEAT COURT FEE HIKE AND XMAS CONSUMER LAWS

Court, Tribunal and Probate fees look set to rise soon. Fancy beating the increases? Click below.

Want to ensure you make use of consumer laws for your Christmas purchases? Click below.

In fact, one click should do it! Fast.

COURT AND OTHER FEES: APPLYING FOR HELP CHANGES

I threatened a video on the big changes coming in on 23 November 2023. I'm as good as my word. Here it is. It won't sting or cost you a penny. Click below.

LATEST FREE 'LAW WATCH' VIDEO AT A CLICK

A click below will take you to an irreverent look at the latest law and legal developments. Judge Judy at the Central Criminal Court. Our new Lady Chief Justice. More interest for special losses. And how I extracted £50 compensation out of the Courts and Tribunal Service for probate delay and how to go about a compensation claim if your probate application was sat on like mine. 

And if you can't bear the look of my face, jut cover your screen with a blanket.

PROBATE FEE INCREASE

The increase in the fee for applying for probate (where there is a will) or letters of administration (where there is no will) which I predicted at https://www.breakinglaw.co.uk/search/label/probate is to take effect on 26 January 2022 (see The Non-Contentious Probate Fees (Amendment) Order 2021 SI 2021/1451). 

The new fee will be £273 whether you are applying in person or through a professional such as a solicitor. Get the application in before 26 January 2022 and money will be saved.

SMALL PRINT WIN, REPOSSESSIONS AND LATEST IN THE LAW: VIEW FREE VIDEO

In my latest video in the Law Watch series, you can discover the latest legal developments and you don't even have to open a law book. Find out about the High Court judgment which extricated a company from a £180,000 claim because contractual small print was hidden away; why county court repossession cases are set to be heard more quickly; the simplification in winding up a deceased's estate where no inheritance tax will be payable; and how making a will can be fun. 

PROBATE FEES: increases in the air

If you are someone who should be applying for probate to wind up a deceased's estate (that's where there is a will) or letters of administration for the same purpose (that's where there is no will) then PULL YOUR FINGER OUT!!!

I predict that around October or November 2021 the fee for applying in England and Wales will increase. Currently, the fee is more if you apply in person rather than through a professional such as a solicitor. In person, it will cost £215 as against £155 through a professional. The plan is to align and increase the fee. Everyone would pay the same and the new fee would be £273. Estates worth less than £5,000 do not currently attract a fee and that will not change. Remission from a fee (sometimes called the 'Help with Fees' scheme) will still be available to applicants of low means. There may well be inheritance tax to pay and that's another headache. You can soothe your brow on this by taking a look at 'The Return of Breaking Law'. [There he goes again].  

Court Fee Cuts (E&W): WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A range of court fee cuts in England and Wales will be effective on 03 August 2020 and so if you want to save some dosh, WAIT!!!!!! until then, provided it is not going to prejudice your position, to issue the reduced fee application. Alas, the fees for starting civil or family proceedings remain untouched.

Here's my pick of the reduced fees and remember that 'Help with fees' still applies so that you may be eligible for a free ride.

civil proceedings

• application for a witness summons - down from £50 to £21
• application to vary a judgment (for example, to be able to pay by instalments) or to suspend enforcement including to suspend a warrant for possession- down from £50 to £14
• request for a certificate of satisfaction in relation to an entry at the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines - down from £15 to £14 

family proceedings

• application for a third party debt order - down form £100 to £77
• application for a charging order - down from £100 to £38
• application for a judgment summons - down from £100 to £73
• application for an attachment of earnings order - down from £100 to £34
• request for bailiff service (sometimes no fee) - down from £110 to £45

BUT NOTE THAT IN CIVIL AS OPPOSED TO FAMILY PROCEEDINGS, THE EXISTING FEES FOR STARTING ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS WILL STAND.

probate fees

Not quite what you would call 'court' fees but some cuts coming in under the same legislation-

• entering a caveat at the Probate Registry (to prevent issue of probate or letters of administration and good for six months) - down from £20 to £3
• applying for a standing search (so that you are notified that probate or letters of administration have been granted and you get a copy of the document and good for periods of six months at a time)- down from £10 to £3

If you want to check out the recent legislation to thank it, then have a butchers at the Court Fees (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2020 SI 2020/720

And if you want millions of legal tips (slight exaggeration) buy my book Breaking Law and give me a break.

Online Probate: New DIY system

If you are  personally handling the winding up of a deceased's person's affairs as their executor then you can now apply online for the grant of probate (see https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/applying-for-a-grant-of-representation). The online trial which I previously reported on (see http://www.breakinglaw.co.uk/search/label/probate) has just been extended. You should find the process relatively straightforward. This applies where the deceased lived in England and Wales. But the online system will not presently cover applications for a grant of letters of administration which is the law's answer to probate where the deceased did not leave a will. For who gets what with no will and who can claim if they have been left out under the will or the intestacy laws which are triggered by no will, see that excellent book Breaking Law by 'erm - me!

Fees for applying for probate are set to be increased next April so don't hang about in making a probate application. Most certainly, don't kill anyone off to save on fees.

STOP PRESS
The planned increases in probate fees have been dropped by the Government.

PROBATE GOING ONLINE

I'm not sure if you can yet eat and park your car online, but it will come. After all,  we already have bankruptcy online and online court hearings and divorce applications will be with us in due course. Whilst we wait for this to come about, they've thought of another online activity. Applying to a probate registry for probate or letters of administration following a death.

An application for probate is made where the deceased left a will. If no will was left then the laws of intestacy dictate who gets what and the application is then for letters of administration. Once the application is granted to whoever is entitled to make it, the deceased's estate can be wound up.

Winding up the estate is not as daunting as is often believed. Unless the deceased left millions or there are complications such as legal challenges to the will or on how the intestacy rules would work or in locating assets, the application for probate or letters of administration can be made by you personally without incurring the fees of a lawyer or other professional.  You'll find a helpful guide on how to go about it at GOV.UK Taking legal advice on drawing a will in the first place is another matter. It is highly desirable.

The intention is that ultimately all applications for probate and letters of administration will be made online. For the moment they will be trying out the software involved with a pilot project as from 1 November 2016. From those making online enquiries about procedure to the Probate Service, around two a day in relatively straightforward cases will be invited to go ahead on an online basis. That number will progressively increase. To accommodate this, the Non-Contentious Probate (Amendment) Rules 2016 have been made but this is not recommended reading unless you are a lawyer or funeral director.

For info about how to challenge a will or how intestacy works where  a relative of yours has passed away - and, also how to counter the possibility of such a challenge - take a look at Breaking Law, chapter 32.