The Probate Services consultation

The Lord Chancellor’s Department has issued a consultation paper on the future of “Probate Services”. Essentially, this is about the way in which the Registries will be organised and the issuing of Grants of Representation will be administered. The consultation paper has been issued following a review carried in 2001. The consultation paper acknowledges that, in general, users of the service are well satisfied. It might be thought that there was, therefore, a case for Government to heed the maxim “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. Alas, the simple answer does not fit in with the Government’s “modernising” tendencies.

Some of the suggestions made will, no doubt, prove to be uncontroversial, representing a process of evolution rather than revolution. The suggestion that account facilities should be available to frequent high volume users will be welcomed by many professional firms. An increasing number of professional firms will no doubt also approve of the suggestion that officials be made accessible by e-mail.