Please review the information below including the budget, our medium-term business plan and the 2025 fee scale which sets out the impact of the change, and respond to our proposed fee levels for 2025. This consultation will run for 6 weeks from 16 July to 27 August 2024.
As an approved regulator and licensing authority for probate services, our activities are guided by and support the Legal Services Board's strategic themes: fairer outcomes, stronger confidence and better services.
Reserved Legal Services Business plan and feedback on our 2023 activities
Building on the strong results and firm foundation of our work in previous years, our probate activities in 2024 have been busy and focused on the following key areas which the fees, and the 2024 increase, have also helped facilitate:
- Ensuring that the Professional Standards Department is best set up to deliver legal services regulation
- Ensuring regulated firms deliver a good service
- Investigation of complaints
- Improvements in firms' transparency on price and service information
- Development of policy
- Support in terms of both resource and financial contribution in relation to Legal Choices website development and future plans
- Maintenance of the compensation scheme arrangements
- A new, more easy to understand disciplinary framework which will provide greater efficiency by improving the speed of investigations and disciplinary proceedings
- Issuing and responding to consultations, for example a review of professional indemnity insurance arrangements
- Keeping our firms and wider community informed via Probate News, Regulatory and Conduct News and our dedicated LinkedIn channel
- 'Future of reserved legal services regulation’ research
- Consumer research project planning
Our 2024-2026 Reserved Legal Services Plan describes our strategic and operational approach – what ICAEW does in relation to the regulation of reserved legal services – and how this aligns with the best interest of the consumer, our values, work with the LSB and our statutory duties.
2025 budget and proposed fee scales
The budget is targeted to self-finance and make a small surplus of £14k to return, over time, the start-up costs of becoming a regulator and licensing authority. Costs have increased largely due to inflation and salary increases, plus costs in relation to policy and governance have also increased.
- View the 2025 budget on page 4
- View the proposed 2025 fee scales on page 6
- Understand how we set probate registration fees on page 7
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We do not believe the proposed changes will result in a worse outcome or quality of service for anyone due to their background or life circumstances. Please tell us if you think your firm or any of your clients will be adversely impacted by the proposals due to a protected characteristic (such as age, disability or race).
How to respond
Or
Write to us with your response at: Director Finance, Operations and Projects, Professional Standards Department ICAEW, Metropolitan House, Avebury Boulevard, Milton Keynes MK9 3FZ.
Please contact us if you need anything further (for example for accessibility reasons) to enable you to submit your response.
Timeline
The consultation deadline is Tuesday 27 August.
Your feedback will then be reviewed and incorporated into our final fee application to the Legal Services Board. The final 2025 fee scales will be published in November.
More information on the timeline is included in the consultation document.
Response to the consultation
This consultation has now closed and our response is available.
Respond to the consultation