Report comment

Precisely what do the people who have to use the district probate registries have to do with the people who have to use the magistrates' courts and the crown court?

Why stop at milking the people who use district probate registries? Why not milk people who have to use the land registry or the services of a local authority when needing a local search or buying a council house? I'm sure they can all afford it, and there are plenty of good causes on which to spend the money, but somewhere along the line it doesn't feel quite right. Does it?

So I pay stamp duty on my house purchase (or not, as the case may be), and the cost of the disbursements like the fees payable to the land registry and the local authority go through the roof because the NHS needs the money.

I, personally, would like to see the residence nil rate band scrapped in favour of an increase in the "normal" nil rate band. Tweak that about a bit, and my guess is that the treasury will receive an amount extra in taxes that'll go a long way to helping fund the magistrates' and crown court out of general taxation without stretching the logic of paying fees for a service provided by the district probate registries to breaking point.