Did you lost a loved one who has an estate worth millions of dollars? Did the deceased make a will before he died or he died intestate, either ways the process with which the court decides if his will is valid or not is known as probate, also if he died without a will – intestate – the court will still have to decide what happens to his estate based on the laws of the state. The court will start by appointing an administrator who will act in the place of the executor. Then the court will decide how the estate will be shared among the heirs of the estate.
In some situations probate isn’t necessary, for instance if after the death of a person his entire estate passes automatically to another person, there would be no need for probate. This is known as joint ownership and it is very common among couples.
Probate fees
In order for the probate process to commence, the executor files a request to the probate court asking the probate court to commence the process of probate. This is one of the major responsibilities of the probate attorney. The probate process could be time consuming, financial effective, etc. talking about the financial involvement of the probate process; it could be very expensive or less expensive depending on the value or worth of the estate. This could still vary based on the state of residence.
Current probate fees
The probate fees vary depending on the worth of the estate. As at 5th of November 2018 when Lucy Frazer a junior Justice Minister announced Government’s proposed changes to probate fees for court applications, estates which worth more than €5,000 are the only ones which attract a probate fee while those which worth less than €5,000 do not attract a probate fee. Applying for probate when using a solicitor requires €155 while if a solicitor is not used, it requires a fee of €215.
Proposed changes to probate fees
The proposed probate fee will increase the payable fee for applying for probate. This is very much unlike the former fee method which is standard regardless of the size of the estate. The proposed reform increases the price in accordance with the price of the estate. The proposed reform is a seven band category, this means that the higher the value of the estate, the higher the fee payable to the court.
The seven proposed bands are:
- Estate value under €50,000
Proposed court fee is €0
- Estate value above €50,000, but below €300,000
Proposed court fee is €250
- Estate value above €300,000, but below €500,000
Proposed court fee is €750
- Estate value above €500,000, but below €1 million
Proposed court fee is €2,500
- Estate value above €1 million, but below €1.6 million
Proposed court fee is €4,000
- Estate value above €1.6 million, but below €2 million
Proposed court fee is €5,000
- Estate value above €2 million
Proposed court fee is €6,000
Take note that the value of an estate is taken before the payment of inheritance tax. There was an argument regarding the court fee payment based on the value of wealth or estate. The argument was that the amount of work which will be required to be done by the probate court when dealing with a €1 million worth estate is the same work that will be required to be done by the probate court when dealing with a €200,000 worth of estate
According to the proposed probate court fee, about 80% of estate would pay €750 or less on average and those paying a higher fee have the means to do so.
Effects of the changes
One positive benefits of the proposed reform in probate fee is that the worth of estate for which no probate court fee is required has been increased up to €50,000.
Another effect that these changes will have will be effect particularly by those who own a very large estate as they will have to pay up to €6,000 for probate court fees.
FAQ
Question: is there still need for avoiding probate?
Answer: this will now be very important for persons having large estates
Question: is inheritance tax valued among the estate?
Answer: yes the estate is valued before payment of inheritance tax.
Question: does this propose court fee have a general positive effect?
Answer: for those whose estate is below €5,000, it has a positive effect.
Probate attorney
For those who own large estate which will require large court fee, they might need to consult a probate attorney to help they draft a way to avoid probate. Contact our probate attorneys today for consult and hire.
