Here’s some news to cheer up our probate colleagues. Naturally, it concerns death and taxes. The Trouble with Dying, Sun Life Direct’s annual survey into the cost of dying, has concluded that the average final bill for joining the choir invisible has risen by £436 to £7,248 over the past year.

The biggest contributing factor is the rise in ‘non-discretionary funeral costs’ - cremations are up by 8.7% (blame mercury abatement regulations) and burial costs 13.4%. Against such rampant inflation, the 4.2% rise in the average cost of professional services looks very reasonable.

Even more cheering is the news that 57% of survey respondents employ a solicitor to administer the estate, which Sun Life Direct says is 8% up on the previous year. After a quick check, Obiter discovered that the firm means 8 percentage points - the rise is more like 16% on the 49% of the previous year. The figure has been climbing steadily since 2008’s 42%.

And it’s a business with a future: the number of deaths in England and Wales is expected to rise by 80,000 a year over the next two decades.