By the end of this century, the number of dead people on the popular social media network, Facebook, is expected to outnumber living members – turning it into the world’s biggest ‘virtual graveyard’.

On 17th January 2019, HM Courts & Tribunals Service announced that their online service for probate applications would be expanded to make applying for probate simpler and easier. It is claimed that this updated service will enable people applying for probate to do so from the comfort of their own home. The system allows up to four joint Executors to apply, pay and even swear a statement of truth online. This reduces the need for Executors to visit a probate registry or solicitor’s office.

Mrs J was widowed and lived in Birmingham. Mrs J left behind her two children (Jackie and Jim) and four grandchildren. At the time of her death, she was a renting tenant, had small cash assets and had accounts with various institutions. Kings Court Trust were instructed to complete the estate administration one month after Mrs J’s death. Her estate appeared to be straightforward, except for one thing. A few years before Mrs J passed, her brother died. Mrs J inherited her late brother’s property in the Republic of Ireland.

Musician, DJ and record producer, Avicii died on 20th April 2018 after reportedly taking his own life. The Swedish electronic dance artist whose real name was Tim Bergling was born in 1989. Despite being just 28 years of age at the time of his death, he left behind an incredible legacy through his musical career and charitable gifts, and a sizeable estate, reportedly worth £20 million.

This year has been a big year for government-related announcements, including proposed probate fee changes, civil partnerships set to be extended to mixed-sex couples, and recommendations to simplify Inheritance Tax. 2018’s research papers have also revealed some interesting insights about the Will writing and financial service industries.

We recently reported that an Inheritance Tax review was to be published by the end of this year, and the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has now released their first Inheritance Tax review report. This first stage of the report provides an overview of the tax and “sets out recommendations on administrative issues”.

On the 5th of November 2018, an update on probate fees was provided by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice, Lucy Frazer QC MP. It was announced that new legislation to implement a new, banded structure of fees for a Grant of Probate (also known as Grant of Representation) has been presented before Parliament.

Theresa May has announced that all couples in England and Wales will be able to choose to enter into a civil partnership, instead of getting married. Currently, the law allows same-sex couples to either marry or enter into a civil partnership but mixed-sex couples can only choose to marry. Theresa May is planning to change this by taking a Bill through Parliament, in order to give everyone the same life choices.

There are a number of lessons that members of the public can learn from the recent celebrity deaths that have hit the headlines. That’s why this blog post explores the considerations that are raised from these high profile deaths: