Posts from February 2019

Plans to increase probate fees for some to £6,000 have been approved this month, following the most recent meeting of the government committee that was set up to debate the issue. 
 
The Committee members voted by nine votes to eight to approve a statutory instrument (SI) to replace the current flat fee with a sliding scale of charges, based on the value of an estate. 
The nine-year-old who got nothing – the parents of a young child divorced, and both later remarried. Just a year after remarrying, the mother died, leaving her nine-year-old child behind.  
 
Of course, losing a young woman in her forties was a shock for all the family. However, what hadn’t been realised is that marriage cancels existing wills
 
Strictly, the mother’s new husband could claim her entire estate, and he did. Although attempts were made to secure some of the mother’s estate for the child, they were unsuccessful. The child grew up to be a lawyer, but never forgot the impact this experience had on her.