Govt U-turns on 'unpalatable' probate fee legislation in run-up to election

Labelled a ‘stealth tax’

Victoria McKeever
clock • 2 min read

The government has U-turned on its controversial probate fee legislation, which industry commentators had labelled a 'stealth tax'.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) U-turned on the proposed legislation on Thursday, saying there was not enough time for it to go through Parliament before the General Election on 8 June. Put forward by Justice Secretary Liz Truss, the proposal looked to replace the current £215 flat fee with a tiered probate fee structure based on the value of a person's estate, effectively increasing costs for higher value estates to anything up to £20,000.  The legislation was first presented to Parliament in February, with a view to come into effect from May. It was expected to raise more than £250m f...

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