With the recent furore over the Government's proposed increase in the cost of obtaining probate on larger estates, currently on ice owing to lack of parliamentary time in the run up to the General Election, it is nice to see that the direction of change in costs charged by the state is not inexorably upward.
On 1 April, the cost of registering a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) reduced from £110 to £82, after the Court of Protection realised that the number of LPAs being registered meant that its income was exceeding the cost of running the service.
The fee for resubmitting an LPA for registration has also fallen – from £55 to £41.
LPAs are an extremely useful way of making sure that your financial affairs and any healthcare wishes are dealt with by those you trust in the event that you become unable to deal with them yourself.