by johnireland | Legal Spotlight
On 13 July 2026, probate fees in England and Wales rose from £300 to £526 — a 75 per cent increase. The fee is only part of the cost. Processing delays, HMRC requirements, and incomplete applications can stretch the timeline from weeks to months. Current average...
by johnireland | Legal Spotlight
What Is Changing From 13 July 2026, the probate application fee in England and Wales rises from £300 to £526 — an increase of more than 75 per cent. The cost of additional copies of the grant falls from £16 to £2 each, but the headline increase is significant. Who Is...
by johnireland | Legal Spotlight
Will Disputes Have Risen 50 Per Cent in a Decade More complex families, higher property values, and bigger gaps between expectations and reality are driving a surge in contested Wills. Understanding the grounds for challenge — and how to prevent them — protects your...
by johnireland | Legal Spotlight
The Two Ways to Own Property Jointly Joint tenants: Both owners hold the entire property together. When one dies, the other automatically becomes sole owner — regardless of what the will says. Simple, but inflexible. Tenants in common: Each owner holds a distinct...
by johnireland | Legal Spotlight
What Is Happening? On 5 June 2026, the Ministry of Justice published a consultation proposing that qualifying cohabitants should receive automatic inheritance rights under the intestacy rules in England and Wales. Currently, unmarried partners have no right to inherit...
by johnireland | Legal Spotlight
More than 3.6 million couples in England and Wales live together without being married — and most have no idea how little legal protection they have if one of them dies. There is no such thing as “common law marriage” in English law. If your partner dies...
