Probate fees
Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (12:10): (736) My question is to the Attorney-General. In hiking probate fees by up to 650 per cent, the Allan Labor government was warned that this would promote elder abuse by future beneficiaries pressuring elders to transfer assets prior to death to avoid paying increased probate fees. In response to this prospect of increased elder abuse, the government has admitted it is still a risk. Why has the Allan Labor government put gouging probate fees from grieving families ahead of protecting Victorian seniors from elder abuse?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:11): I thank Mr Mulholland for his question and the continued conversation about probate fees. As I said yesterday, this is about making the system fairer. It is about abolishing fees for small estates and keeping medium-sized fees, which continue to be cheaper than New South Wales and South Australia. As I said yesterday, the policy is about ensuring that those complex cases that take up the time and resources of the courts are paying appropriately for those services whilst being able to reduce the burden on smaller estates. The consultation was extensive, and there are a range of views on this matter that have been taken into consideration in forming the policy.
Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (12:12): The government’s own document notes that financial abuse is most likely to occur for assets such as cash. By imposing a hugely increased new up-front fee for probate, elderly Victorians may now face pressure to transfer significant amounts of cash to their children prior to death to cover these new fees. What specific action will the Attorney-General take to ensure that this government’s probate cash grab will not lead to an increase in elder abuse to vulnerable Victorians?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:12): I thank Mr Mulholland for his supplementary question. Of course elder abuse is a concern in the community. I do not shy away from that, but I come back to the premise and the policy position in relation to probate. It is about fairness, it is about covering costs and it is about ensuring that those estates that are multimillion-dollar estates are paying more for the probate –
Members interjecting.
Jaclyn SYMES: What I would say in relation to elder abuse is this is a matter that regularly is raised with me by community legal centres in particular. It is an issue that many of our CLCs are focused on in relation to responding to and preventing. I commend them for their work, and we will continue to support them in relation to that.