The Ministry for Regulation’s Red Tape Tipline has received more than 750 submissions, showing that red tape is giving Kiwis serious headaches, said Regulation Minister, David Seymour.
Mr Seymour said a submitter to the Ministry for Regulation’s Red Tape Tipline had complained that the threshold for probate has not kept up with inflation.
“This means that more Kiwis have to go through the tedious legal process that is probate, while they are mourning,” said the Minister.
“The maximum value for distributing an estate without probate is $15,000. This has not changed in over 15 years. In that time, inflation has increased 48%, New Zealand made same sex marriage legal, and the All Blacks have won two Rugby World Cup titles.”
The Ministry for Regulation found that if the probate threshold were inflation adjusted the revised figure would be approximately $22,000.
The probate threshold is the amount at which those executing a will are forced to go through a more formal legal process requiring court approval.
Below the threshold there is no court approval needed to disburse estates, saving time and money.
“The submitter said that the most frustrating part of the probate process was that he had to apply to the High Court to administer his estate. This clogs up the courts and means probate takes much longer than necessary, for estates which are of a value lower than the value intended to require probate. In the submitters case the whole process took over six months,” Mr Seymour says.
“The Ministry for Regulation’s investigation found that this is an easy fix. The Administration (Prescribed Amounts) Regulations 2009 set the probate threshold. The responsible Minister can amend the regulations with Cabinet’s approval.
“I have written to the Minister of Justice, Hon Paul Goldsmith with the Ministry for Regulation’s findings. He is responsible for the regulation.”
The Ministry has published a case study on the issue which can be found here: Relief for grieving families | Ministry for Regulation.
