In November 2018, the Ministry of Justice announced that legislation to introduce tiered probate fees had been presented before Parliament. We expect to see these changes to grant of probate fees coming into effect from as early as April. These increases in probate fees have been in the news since February 2017, when the plan to introduce a banded structure of fees based on the estate value was originally revealed. After a delay, it now appears that the government will finally move forward with the changes this year.

The current fee for obtaining a Grant of Probate is £215 for individuals and £155 for professional bodies. The new fees will instead be based on the value of the estate as follows:

• Estates worth less than £50,000 will typically not require a Grant of Probate.
• The estate threshold will rise from £5,000 to £50,000 when the legislation is introduced.
• For estates worth £50,000 up to £300,000 the fee will be £250;
• For estates worth £300,000 up to £500,000 the fee will be £750;
• For estates worth £500,000 up to £1 million the fee will be £2,500;
• For estates worth £1 million up to £1.6 million the fee will be £4,000;
• For estates worth £1.6 million up to £2 million the fee will be £5,000; and
• For estates worth over £2 million the fee will be £6,000.

The planned fees have recently been largely criticised by the House of Lords, however it now looks like they will be introduced on 6^th April 2019.