Put a stop to the sneaky £6,000 death ‘Fee’ we all know it’s a tax a

Ministers were last night accused of sneaking through a stealth ‘death tax’ that will hit grieving families with bills of up to £6,000.

In an alleged abuse of power, a huge hike in probate charges was effectively waved through Parliament after ministers categorised it as a ‘fee’ rather than a tax.

It meant they could avoid full parliamentary scrutiny for the controversial increase, which will see almost 300,000 families a year face larger probate bills from April.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said last night: ‘This is a clear abuse of executive power: bringing in a tax hike without proper parliamentary scrutiny.’ Labour’s justice spokesman Gloria De Piero said the charges were a ‘tax on grieving families’.