Made - - - - 2007
Coming into operation - 2007
The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 116(1), (1A) and (4) of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978(), after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice and with the concurrence of the Treasury, hereby makes the following Order:—
This Order may be cited as the Supreme Court (Non-Contentious Probate) Fees (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007 and shall come into operation on 2007.
In this Order—
“the principal Order” means the Supreme Court (Non-Contentious Probate) Fees Order (Northern Ireland) 1996(); and
a fee referred to by number means the fee so numbered in the Schedule to the principal Order.
After Article 2(2) of the principal Order insert the following:—
(3) “credit card” means a card which—
(a) may be used on its own to pay for goods or services or to withdraw cash, and
(b) enables the holder to make purchases and to draw cash up to a prearranged limit;
(4) “debit card” means a card which may be used as a means of payment under arrangements which do not provide for the extension of credit to the cardholder, but provide for amounts paid by means of the card to be debited to a specified account in his name (or in his name jointly with one or more others); and
(5) “payment instrument” means a cheque or payable order..
For paragraph (1) of Article 6 of the principal Order there shall be substituted the following new paragraph—
(1) The fees prescribed by this Order shall be taken—
(a) in cash;
(b) by credit card payment;
(c) by debit card payment; or
(d) by payment instrument..
After Article 8 of the principal Order insert the following new Articles—
Exemptions and refunds
9.—(1) No fee shall be payable under this Order by a party who, at the time when a fee would otherwise become payable—
(a) is in receipt of any qualifying benefit, and
(b) is not in receipt of legal aid under Part II of the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981() for the purposes of the proceedings.
(2) The following are qualifying benefits for the purposes of paragraph (1)(a) above—
(a) income support under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992();
(b) income-based jobseeker’s allowance under the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995();
(c) guarantee credit under the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002();
(d) working tax credit, provided that—
(i) child tax credit is being paid to the party or otherwise following a claim for child tax credit made jointly by the members of a married couple or an unmarried couple (as defined respectively in section 3(5) and (6) of the Tax Credits Act 2002()) which includes the party; or
(ii) there is a disability element or severe disability element (or both) to the tax credit received by the party;
and that the gross annual income taken into account for the calculation of the working tax credit is £16,017 or less.
10.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), where a fee has been paid at a time—
(a) when, under Article 9, it was not payable, the fee shall be refunded;
(b) where the Lord Chancellor, if he had been aware of all the circumstances, would have reduced the fee, the amount by which the fee would have been reduced shall be refunded; and
(c) where the Lord Chancellor, if he had been aware of all the circumstances, would have remitted the fee under Article 4(6), the fee shall be refunded.
(2) No refund shall be made under paragraph (1) unless the party who paid the fee applies within 6 months of paying the fee.
(3) The Lord Chancellor may extend the period of 6 months referred to in paragraph (2) if he considers that there is good reason for an application being made after the end of the period of 6 months..
For the Schedule to the principal Orderthere shall be substituted the new Schedule set out in the Schedule to this Order.
Signed by the authority of the Lord Chancellor
Minister of State
Ministry of Justice
Dated
We concur
Two of the Lords Commissioners
of Her Majesty’s Treasury
Dated
SCHEDULE Article 6
SCHEDULE 1 Article 4
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Column 1 |
Column 2 |
Column 3 |
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Item |
Fee £ |
Document to be endorsed |
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Application for grant: general |
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1. On an application for a grant (or for resealing a grant) other than an application to which Fee No. 3 applies:— |
The requisition |
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(a) if the assessed value does not exceed £10,000 |
No fee |
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(b) if the assessed value exceeds £10,000 |
200.00 |
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Personal application fee |
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2. In addition to (1) on an application for a grant by a personal applicant where the value of the estate exceeds £10,000 |
50.00 |
The requisition |
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Special applications |
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3. On an application for:— |
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(a) a grant in respect of an estate exempt from inheritance tax by virtue of section 154 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (exemption for members of the armed forces, etc.); |
150.00 |
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(b) a grant limited to trust property; |
150.00 |
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(c) a duplicate grant; |
150.00 |
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(d) any second or subsequent grant (including one following a revoked grant) in respect of the same deceased person, other than a grant preceded only by a grant limited to trust property or to a part of the estate |
150.00 |
The requisition |
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Column 1 |
Column 2 |
Column 3 |
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Item |
Fee £ |
Document to be endorsed |
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Alteration in grants, etc. |
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4. For making any notation on or amendment to the grant and record after issue, or impounding or revoking a grant, appointing a guardian or an administrator in cases of mental or physical incapacity or releasing an impounded grant inclusive of filing any document, or preparing any memorandum under the Inheritance (Provisions for Family and Dependants) (Northern Ireland) Order 1979. |
50.00 |
The requisition |
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Caveats |
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5. (a) for the entry of a caveat |
75.00 |
The filed copy |
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(b) for an extension or warning to a caveat |
50.00 |
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Deposit of wills |
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6. On depositing a will for safe custody in the Probate and Matrimonial Office or any branch office |
30.00 |
The requisition |
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Searches |
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7. (a) For a search for a grant on behalf of the party applying (whether in person or by letter) |
20.00 |
The requisition |
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(b) Additional payment where the search is carried out by an officer of the court |
10.00 |
The requisition |
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Inspection |
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8. On inspection of office records, an original will or any other document, including a copy of a will |
30.00 |
The requisition |
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Copies of documents |
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9. (a) on a copy document (5 sheets or less) not otherwise provided for |
5.00 |
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(b) on any additional copy per page |
0.50 |
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(c) for an exemplification of a copy signed by the master and countersigned by the Lord Chief Justice, including the fees for preparing the necessary documents |
75.00 |
The requisition |
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Column 1 |
Column 2 |
Column 3 |
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Item |
Fee £ |
Document to be endorsed |
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10. On an audio recording produced on compact disc in respect of any court proceedings— For each hour or part thereof |
25.00 |
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Oaths and guarantees |
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11. Save in a personal application for a grant:— (a) for administering an oath, for each deponent to each affidavit |
30.00 |
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(b) for superintending an attesting execution of a guarantee for each surety |
50.00 |
The requisition |
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Production of document, etc. |
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12. On an application for the production of records or documents to be given in evidence:— |
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On attendance of an officer to produce records (in addition to the officer’s expenses) for each hour or part thereof |
14.00 |
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Settling documents |
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13. For perusing and settling citations, for each document settled |
115.00 |
The requisition |
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Applications to the Master |
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14. On any application to the Master not otherwise provided for |
115.00 |
The requisition |
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Miscellaneous |
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15. On sealing a writ of subpoena per person |
30.00 |
The requisition |
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order amends the Supreme Court (Non-Contentious Probate) Fees Order (Northern Ireland) 1996 so as to:—
introduce the following new fees in Schedule 1:—
where a search is carried out by an officer of the court (Fee No.7(b));
on an audio recording produced on compact disc in respect of any court proceedings (Fee No.10);
on sealing a writ of subpoena per person (Fee No.15);
increase a number of fees in non-contentious probate proceedings;
allow fees to be taken by a range of payment methods, including credit or debit card; and
provide for exemptions from fees payable in the circumstances as outlined in Article 5 and refunds where appropriate.
A Regulatory Impact Assessment of the costs and benefits of this Order (and other Orders relating to court fees) was placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament and is available on the Northern Ireland Court Service’s web-site at www.courtsni.gov.uk.