Karen Lumley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Lumley on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent increase in probate fees on the number of people who seek to avoid such fees by moving property into joint names to remove the need for a grant of probate.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Government published a consultation on proposals to reform fees for applications for a grant of probate on 18 February. Alongside the consultation, an impact assessment was published which included a sensitivity analysis that accounted for a range of fee avoidance behaviours. This will be reviewed again in the Government response. The consultation will run for six weeks, closing on 1 April.