Probate delays

Dominic Thomas
May 2024 • 2 min read

Probate Delays

I suspect you are familiar with the Probate process. In essence, this is accounting to HMRC the value of someone’s estate upon death. The process is often tedious and full of unhelpful jargon and bureaucratic forms. In order for beneficiaries to inherit, probate needs to be agreed or more accurately granted.

Those of you who have experienced the process at any point will have a sense of the time that it takes and the scale of the task. Often the task is delegated to a solicitor and this can be both liberating and beneficial; but not necessarily any faster.

Aware of the growing number of delays, a Freedom of Information request revealed that the number of cases taking over a year has increased by 65% according to the Ministry of Justice. Some have been as long as 23 months, some even longer. It is generally agreed that the process should take around four months.

Death is a stressful time for the survivors; and handling an estate can be very time-consuming (close to a full-time job in some instances). There are things that can be done to reduce the impact, such as placing life assurance policies into Trust. There is a degree to which we can each even ‘plan’ for our own deaths, but of course this is not something that most do; many people have not prepared their finances nor kept their affairs in good order.

We help our clients make this arduous and stressful task a little easier for their loved ones when the time comes – and rest assured they will be grateful to you for it.

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Power of Attorney – Are you due a Refund?

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News from Alex Truesdale today in relation to possible refunds for recent Power of Attorney.

Power of Attorney – are you due a refund?

OPG LPA/EPA REFUND PROCESS: FEBRUARY 2018

WHY HAS A REFUND BEEN OFFERED?

When LPAs/EPAs are registered, a fee is payable to the Office of the Public Guardian, of £120 or £110 per LPA/EPA, which in some circumstances was reduced by 50%.

In an announcement made by the Ministry of Justice yesterday, partial refunds are being offered to those who applied to register for powers of attorney between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2017 (you don’t need to know precisely when you applied).

According to the MoJ, the process to register LPA/EPAs became more efficient during this period (probably because the volume of LPA registrations submitted has climbed so markedly as the general public become aware of the advantages of having LPAs in place) and as a result, operating costs for the Office of the Public Guardian came down. However, the fee charged for the application did not reduce in line with this. The fee was subsequently lowered by the MoJ to £82 per LPA, a change which came into effect on 1 April 2017. This announcement stops short of an automatic refund being sent out to all donors, so do please spread the word if you have friends, neighbours or relatives who may also have applied

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?

This applies to lasting powers of attorney (LPA) and enduring powers of attorney (EPA) made in England and Wales. You can make a claim if you’re the ‘donor’ – the person who made the power of attorney, or an ‘attorney’ – appointed by the donor in an LPA or EPA.

The refund must be paid to the donor – or to his/her estate if the donor has since died and may take up to 12 weeks to appear. You only need to make one claim per donor, even if you made more than one power of attorney.

WHAT IS THIS WORTH TO ME?
How much you get depends on when you paid the fees – see table below. You’ll also get 0.5% interest. You’ll get half the refund if you paid a reduced fee (‘remission’).

When you paid the fee	Refund for each Power of Attorney
April 2013 – September 2013 October 2013 – March 2014 April 2014 – March 2015 April 2015 – March 2016 April 2016 – March 2017	£54 £34 £37 £38 £45

When you paid the fee

Refund for each Power of Attorney

April 2013 – September 2013

October 2013 – March 2014

April 2014 – March 2015

April 2015 – March 2016

April 2016 – March 2017

£54

£34

£37

£38

£45

HOW DO I CLAIM?

If the donor is still alive, start here: https://claim-power-of-attorney-refund.service.gov.uk/when-were-fees-paid

You’ll need the donor’s UK bank account number and sort code.

You must claim by phone ( 0300 456 0300 (choose option 6)) if:

the donor doesn’t have a UK bank account
the donor has died
you’re a court-appointed deputy

CAN ALEX TRUESDALE WILLS LIMITED APPLY FOR THE REFUND FOR ME?

Unfortunately no – only the donor or the attorney is able to apply.

I HAVE FURTHER QUESTIONS – WHO CAN I CALL?

Just phone 0300 456 0300 (option 6) or email the OPG on poarefunds@justice.gsi.gov.uk

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk

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