The cost of dying is overwhelmingly expensive! Last year the Sunlife Cost of Dying Report highlighted that since 2017, the overall cost of dying has grown from £8,905 – to an all-time high of £9,204 (+3.4%). From Saturday, the cost of obtaining a death certificate has almost tripled from £4 to £11 across England and Wales.
Whilst this figure may be fairly arbitrary, in some complex financial estates, an already grieving family or busy personal representative may need to authorise up to 20 certificates in a bid to prove the death.
This would mean that the full cost of obtaining the necessary certificates could rise from £80 to £220.
Death certificates can be vital in starting the process of transferring ownership of businesses, bank accounts and shares.
The cost of obtaining a death certificate if you happen to lose an existing one that has already been purchased is also set to increase by around 20%. The new fee charged for replacement certificates for a standard service will be £11, compared with the £9.25 that was being charged this time last week.
In urgent cases, the priority service is increasing from £23.40 to £35.
The increase change comes just weeks after the House of Commons’ Fourteenth Delegated Legislation Committee sat to consider the case for the statutory instrument (SI) that will change the current non-contentious probate fees from a fixed amount to a sliding scale.
Having deliberated and debated the issue, the committee narrowly voted in the proposed changes to probate fees by nine votes to eight. This was the final stage in the process that started on November 5th last year and will mean that the fees will increase as proposed unless a formal objection is lodged in Parliament.
The accusation levied at the government for taxing death through stealth measures are being reinforced through the latest increases to death certificates.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The changes to the civil registration certificate fees are the first increase since 2010.
“The fees are set at cost recovery levels only, and registration officers have power to waive or reduce fees on grounds of compassion or hardship.”
Have the government gone too far with these recent increases? Will these additional charges put unnecessary financial hardships on many estates?
