Guernsey Press

Church won’t welcome loss of probate

TO many, the Church of England’s role in probate through the Ecclesiastical Court is not only surprising but an anachronism.

Published

The court is also shrouded in too much secrecy to be comfortable in modern times. Its accounts and how it spends money that people have no choice but to pay are hard to come by.

Defenders of the system fall back on the conclusion of the last report into its operation from the mid-1980s, that the court is doing an efficient job that someone has to do.

That review took some six years to complete, and the latest investigation, to be published within weeks, can trace its roots back to before 2012.

The only conclusion to draw from those timescales is that there is resistance to reform.

Surplus income from the court is distributed by the Church to its chosen charities, but also to help fund its property maintenance, a contentious issue for the secular side of the island who are already forced to pay through their parish contributions.

Probate operates on a percentage charge, which varies depending on the size of the estate.

One of the areas the latest Policy & Resources review will address is whether the Ecclesiastical Court involvement deters investment from the outside world and damages the perception of the island.

That may well be one reason for change, but a lack of transparency, fairness, accountability and government control over a system which is compulsorily taking money from the public are all drivers too.

Remember too that many only become aware of this system, and the level of charges, when they are at their most vulnerable.

The entanglement between the States and unelected Church officials in this matter is uncomfortable and should end if its replacement is a cost-effective and open system where the public know clearly how much they will be charged for the service and what happens with that money.

It could be a significant loss of income for the Church: in November 2016, the current Dean took the Guernsey Press through accounts which showed the court had raised £6.5m. from 2009.

If the P&R review recommends change, it is unlikely the Church will go quietly.