At Kings Court Trust we’ve always been passionate about helping families at the difficult time of dealing with a bereavement. We achieve this by taking care of the practicalities after death so you can focus on life’s important moments. We’re pleased to announce a group of new estate solutions that will allow us to help even more families.

The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has published its second report on Inheritance Tax. The report comes after the Chancellor requested a review of administrative and technical aspects of the tax back in January 2018. The first report was released in November 2018 and covered the administration of Inheritance Tax. This second report now explores the key complexities and technical issues that arise from the way the tax works.

Back in May 2019, we wrote about how probate registries in England and Wales were suffering from processing delays on Grant of Probate and Grant of Letter of Administration applications. We’re now a couple of months down the line and the backlog continues. Therefore, we wanted to provide our clients and business partners with another update.

Following a bereavement, there are a number of tasks to be considered and completed. These tasks are not always straightforward and can include dealing with difficult legal and tax affairs. We understand that this can make an already difficult time even more stressful. That’s why we’ve created this guide to help you understand your responsibilities and options, as well as what needs to be done.

Cryptocurrency is digital money that is stored in a virtual wallet and uses encryption techniques to generate currency and verify the transfer of funds. Want to learn more about what cryptocurrency is and how it can impact future inheritances? Read our previous blog post which goes into detail about the digital currency.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot at Windsor Castle on the 19th of May 2018. Almost one year on, in the early hours of the 6th May 2019 the couple welcomed baby boy, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, into the family.

As of Monday 14th October 2019, the proposal to increase probate fees has been withdrawn. Click here to read our latest blog post on the matter. Probate Registries in England and Wales are currently reporting severe delays on Grant of Probate and Grant of Letter of Administration applications. Due to the rollout of a new IT case management system, the process has been dramatically slowed down. This means that it’s taking longer for the Registries to process applications for Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration.

According to the Law Society Gazette, the Ministry of Justice plans to close local probate registries and move the work to just one central location in Birmingham. Currently, there are ten remaining regional probate registries in England and Wales and staff have reportedly been informed of plans to scale back operations and shut down the sites in due course.

Recently published official statistics from Public Health England revealed that in 2018, there were 10.1 English care home beds for every 100 people aged 75 years and older and 4.9 nursing home beds for every 100 people aged 75+. Both figures show that the trend over the last 5 years is gradually decreasing, resulting in less care and nursing home beds for the older generation.