Tuesday, 12 November 2024

Probate fees

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12:17): (727) My question is for the Attorney-General. The Allan Labor government is pushing ahead with plans to increase probate fees by up to 650 per cent. As banks do not allow access to deceased accounts until after a grant of probate has been made by the court, executors will now have to pay many thousands of dollars for a grant of probate from their own pockets. This will create very serious issues for applicants who do not have access to sufficient funds at or prior to applications being lodged in the court. How does the Attorney-General expect grieving families to fund up-front Labor’s massive increase to the cost of probate fees before any distribution of the estate?

Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:17): These are important matters, Ms Lovell, but if you had listened to my response to Ms Crozier, I actually directly answered this question. I explained that although it is outside my direct responsibilities as Attorney-General, I would like to see the ability for access to estates at an earlier stage so that all of the costs associated with probate can be addressed from an estate as opposed to those that are responsible for managing it.

But I do want to repeat – you seem to ignore it, and I will keep saying it because maybe it will sink in at some point – that we are removing fees from small estates. Zero. Zilch. So it will be cheaper for many, many people who are going through the grieving process. When it comes to multimillion-dollar estates, they can be very complex and it is only fair that for those that are taking up the time of the court the fees come from that cohort as opposed to those who can least afford it. This is a fair reform and it is a necessary reform. In relation to the issues that you have raised, I repeat my answer to Ms Crozier: I am seeking advice, and I would like to have further conversation with the banks in relation to ensuring that there can be earlier access to money from estates.

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12:19): Current practice for many legal practices is to effectively bankroll applicants to enable documents to be lodged, and when the grant is issued by the court, they then arrange for such disbursements and payments to be refunded out of the deceased person’s accounts when they are closed and funds are paid into a trust account. However, I have been contacted by legal firms in Northern Victoria who say that they will no longer be able to afford to continue this practice for most applications. Minister, your responses to submissions on this issue said that you would not be allowing changes to be made to allow funds to be accessed early from accounts. You say you will be. Minister, will the government definitely enable executors to access deceased bank accounts and assets to pay the fees, as is the case for funeral costs?

Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:20): Ms Lovell, I went through this in great detail. If I had the power to do that, sure, but I would need to negotiate with the banks and I would need to have conversations with the banks. It is actually outside the remit of the Attorney-General. I am happy to have those conversations, and other people are already having those conversations because this came up as a matter of interest in the consultation process. Of course I listened to the matters that were brought up in our consultation process, which is why those types of submissions have been actioned.

In relation to some of the other issues that you raised, the other matter that is probably worth putting on record as well is that there is provision for fee waivers from the courts and financial loans in relation to those that are suffering significant hardship, and I can provide more information on that process for you, Ms Lovell, if you would like.