Budget speculation, probate fee hike & the cost of children

As you settle down with the Sunday papers or The Andrew Marr Show, here’s the latest weekly roundup from Informed Choice.

With the Budget looming next month, George Osborne is warning that we face further public spending cuts due to the smaller than expected size of the economy.

There has been plenty of speculation about changes to tax relief on pension contributions or even removal of tax-free cash in retirement.

What we do know is that there are changes coming to the lifetime allowance in April, as well as a reduction in the annual allowance for higher earners. We covered both topics in our podcast on Friday, which you can listen to here.

If there are changes to pension tax relief in the Budget, will it be radical reform or daylight robbery? The main options up for consideration by the Chancellor are explored in our blog here.

New proposals from the Ministry of Justice could result in big increases to grant of probate fees, resulting in millions of families paying more on the death of a loved one. Shelley wrote about the implications of these fee hikes here.

In a bonus episode of our podcast this week, Martin interviewed Justin Harper of LV about their new Cost of a Child report. Did you know that the cost of raising a child is at an all-time high, increasing by more than £2,500 in the last year alone?