Bereaved families will be burdened with extra stress and financial hardship under a proposed Victorian death tax hike, the state's peak legal body warns.
Fees for processing of wills and distribution of a dead person's estate are under review as the state government seeks to cover the cost of the Supreme Court service.
Law Institute of Victoria chief executive Adam Awty said the changes will see grieving loved ones pay thousands more to file a will during an already devastating time.
“The death of a loved one is probably the hardest time in anyone's life," he said on Friday.
"These increased fees would add extra stress and financial hardship on families who are already suffering.
"They can’t access the bank account of their deceased loved one so they need to find the money for filing fees somewhere else."
Under the proposed changes, the law institute estimated small estates valued at less than $250,000 would have a filing fee increase of 281 per cent, from $68.60 to $261.30.
For estates valued $250,000 but less than $500,000, filing fees would increase from $68.60 to $514 or 650 per cent.
The Department of Justice and Community Safety previously proposed three options for price changes.
Under its preferred option, a $0 fee tier would be introduced for a "small estates", valued at less than $250,000, while carrying out the suggested increases for larger wills.
Mr Awty said the law institute was concerned fee hikes could trigger probate avoidance from executors, limiting access to justice by placing the fees at a level beyond many court users' capacity to pay.
"They could discourage people from agreeing to become executors which could slow down administration of estates and tie up assets for longer," he said.
“For estates worth more than $2.5 million, they are almost double the fees in NSW."
Premier Jacinta Allan previously said the preferred option would make probate fees substantially cheaper for a large number of people, but no final decision had been made.
"There's a bit of fearmongering and scaremongering and, frankly, just ridiculous commentary that's coming from the Liberal opposition on this," she told reporters in June.
Community consultation on the proposed fee changes closed on July 19 before a final recommendation is made to Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes.
