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The cost of assisted dying in the UK could mean it ends up being only be for the wealthy, a specialist lawyer has told Sky News.

MPs voted the assisted dying bill through its second stage last month, meaning the UK is closer to allowing people to end their own lives legally.

The bill stipulates people will have to have been given six months or less to live, must have two doctors saying they are eligible and a High Court judge would have to make a final decision.

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Lawyer Alexa Payet, who has represented the families of British people who have chosen assisted dying overseas, told Sky News the costs could run into “tens of thousands of pounds”.

She also said because the scope of the bill is so narrow, people who are terminally ill but have longer to live will still choose to go overseas to die.

“Nothing about legal procedure has been set out in the bill yet but I can imagine the process could be tens of thousands of pounds,” she said.

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“That begs the question as to whether any funding will be made available.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeve this week refused to say if assisted dying would be made free under the NHS, ahead of a committee of MPs being formed on Wednesday to scrutinise the bill and propose amendments.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater among supporters of Dignity in Dying, celebrating hearing the result of the vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. A proposed law to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales has cleared its first parliamentary hurdle after MPs voted 330 to 275, majority 55, to approve it at second reading. Picture date: Friday November 29, 2024.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater introduced the assisted dying bill to parliament, which passed its second stage last month

Ms Payet, partner in the disputed wills and estates team at Michaelmores LLP, has successfully fought for the families of British people who have gone to places like Dignitas in Switzerland.

As assisted dying is currently a criminal offence, British people who help someone to die at an overseas clinic are can commit a crime which means they are not allowed to benefit from the proceeds from wills or shared assets.

Helping could entail filling out the Dignitas form or organising transport.

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The details of the assisted dying bill

What happens now MPs have backed assisted dying bill?

Ms Payet has worked on, among many others, two cases that have become case law, which has allowed judges to dismiss other cases – but people still have to go through a criminal investigation before.

She said the cost of lawyers to get a High Court judge to approve the application would be considerable.

Then there would be the legal costs family members might need for helping the person to die, because the Suicide Act may still apply so anybody encouraging or assisting suicide would be criminally liable.

They would then need to pay for lawyers to fight for their right to claim inheritance.

Lawyer Alexa Payet, who specialises in relief against forfeiture, warned the cost of assisted dying could be very high. Pic: Michaelmores LLP
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Lawyer Alexa Payet, who specialises in relief against forfeiture, warned the cost of assisted dying could be very high. Pic: Michaelmores LLP

Ms Payet said: “Any family members who provide any form of assistance getting them to that stage of assisted death, they don’t seem to be covered by this bill as drafted.

“I think there’s a question mark over what would happen with those individuals, both from the criminal aspect, but also from the forfeiture.

“It seems to me that the law, as it stands, may apply to those people, and that’s something else that should be given some consideration.”

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Opinions remain divided after assisted dying vote

She added there has been no mention of whether legal aid would be available, but said many people would not be eligible yet still could not afford the legal fees.

“This bill is incredibly narrow,” she said.

“Anecdotally, most of the people that go off to Dignitas are not people that fit this category of the terminally ill with six months or less to die.

“So, even if that bill was passed, it’s not going to affect the large majority of people who are currently taking steps to obtain an assisted death.

“Those people are presumably still going to go off to these overseas clinics which cost around £10,000 to £15,000 but then there’s also the associated costs like travel, with some people needing an air ambulance.”

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Crypto’s path to legitimacy runs through the CARF regulation

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Crypto’s path to legitimacy runs through the CARF regulation

Crypto’s path to legitimacy runs through the CARF regulation

The CARF regulation, which brings crypto under global tax reporting standards akin to traditional finance, marks a crucial turning point.

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Tokenized equity still in regulatory grey zone — Attorneys

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Tokenized equity still in regulatory grey zone — Attorneys

Tokenized equity still in regulatory grey zone — Attorneys

The nascent real-world tokenized assets track prices but do not provide investors the same legal rights as holding the underlying instruments.

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.

MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.

Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.

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Rachel Reeves’s fiscal dilemma

In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.

“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.

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“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.

“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”

Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.

The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.

It comes after Ms Reeves said she was “totally” up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions.

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Why was the chancellor crying at PMQs?

Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.

Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.

“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”

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Reeves is ‘totally’ up for the job

Sir Keir also told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he “didn’t appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.

“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.

“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”

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