Commencing Monday 18 November 2024, the Victorian Government is introducing changes to the Supreme Court of Victoria’s Probate Office Fees. These changes follow a review, including public consultation, of the Probate Office fees undertaken earlier this year.

Changes to the probate application fee schedule will see an increase of up to 650% of the cost of some applications.

Estates with an inventory value of $7,000,000 or more, will see the biggest monetary increase in fees payable, with applications attracting a fee of $16,803.60 (previously $2,318.90), being an increase of 625%.

The Victorian Government has offered a statement of reasons for the significant fee increases.

The increase in fees may present practical difficulties for applicants when making an application for a Grant of Representation. This will be particularly relevant where:

• estate assets are usually inaccessible prior to a Grant of Representation being made;
• the estate may be largely real estate assets (with little or no cash to fund or reimburse an application fee without selling estate assets); or
• named executors or administrators may be required to pay significant application fees upfront on behalf of an estate where personal savings may be limited (and with no clear recourse to address any loss of interest from funds advanced for this purpose).

In response to this latter point, the Victorian Government has indicated that other options are available to applicants to pay the probate application fees, stating other payment options include “legal fee loans, family law loans, credit cards, payments of superannuation to nominated beneficiaries, fee waivers and law firms may cover costs and recover them from the estate later”.

Below is a table setting out the estate value brackets and comparing fee structures.

This is a timely reminder of the benefit of proactive succession planning and structuring measures, which should always address considerations of asset protection and specific beneficiary needs, but is likely to increasingly feature consideration of measures to manage the level of assets held in personal names with a view to mitigating the potential impost on executors, administrators or beneficiaries in the future.