This announcement, made on the eve of the Melbourne Cup, raises probate fees, the administrative costs paid to the court to validate and distribute a deceased person’s estate.
In Victoria, the probate filing fee is based on the value of the deceased’s assets.
The most significant cost rise, for estates between $250,000 and $500,000, will increase by 645 per cent.
Current fees for estates in this range are about $69, which will rise to $514.
For estates surpassing $2 million, the costs could almost double what residents pay in neighbouring states.
State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell expressed concerns about how this decision would impact citizens settling estates and arranging burials, further increasing the financial burden on Victorians.
“The cost of living is going up under the Allan Labor Government, and now death taxes are making the cost of dying more expensive through massive fee increases,” she said.
In addition to the increase in probate fees, Remembrance Parks Central Victoria, which manages cemeteries in Pine Lodge and Kialla West, has announced a price review of burial plot and interment charges.
The proposed fee increases are expected to average about 14 per cent, with the new rates likely to take effect as early as December.
“There will be a double whammy on the cost of dying for residents of Greater Shepparton,” Ms Lovell said.
Public outcry has emerged, especially after the government imposed fee increases at the Shepparton Public Cemetery Trust earlier this year.
As these changes loom, the community grapples with the grim reality of rising costs associated with death and the implications for families left behind.
