Probate and Inheritance

Probably about 7 days. It depends on how busy the Probate Registry are. I think several have been closed, amalgamated recently and so it might be a few days longer.

sloughflint wrote: »

Apparently another option is to pay the inheritance tax in instalments and might be cheaper (3%) compared to a bank loan?

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cto/customerguide/page12-6.htm#1

This "recession" is not all bad news, the interest rate appears to have gone down to zero.
But there is now no incentive for anyone to get their skates on in the first 12 months, before penalties are imposed..

Interest is (normally) payable after the first 6 calendar months.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/iht-interest-rates.htm

My timetable on an estate that has unfortunately nudged its way into IHT goes like this:
Death in September.
Records in disarray as deceased died of an undiagnosed brain disease which caused him "to lose the plot".
You have to be able to fix outstanding Income Tax problems before taking a stab at IHT.
Most financial institutions have a "bereavement" section that is geared up to supply the figures needed for probate and IHT.
You have to pay IHT on "accrued interest" ie money that is yet to pay income tax and that has not been paid out yet.
However some financial institutions are unable to get their act together. One infamous example, which I will name once the nightmare they are creating is over, were still writing to the deceased in his own name at his empty house, six months after being informed of his death and having returned the death certificate.

The time table is working like this:
Mid March, completed the IHT family of self assesment tax return forms, all 63 sides of A4 and applied, on-line, for a tax payer's reference number.
30 March reference arrives (2nd class post = 4 days in transit).
31 March locked in Bank of England while paying the tax. (Police kettle practice?)
31 March have to mail probate application as "court" knocks off at 16:00
20 April someone sends a manual note from probate department telling me to submit obsolete forms D18 & IHT200 (Actually IHT421 & IHT400 family) to HMR&C.
01 May attend for interview.
14 May still waiting. unable to get on with anything except cutting the grass.

If there is tax to pay, the process becomes about 4 times as complex and delay prone.

If you get an expensive solicitor (2,000 plus VAT to get started?) you will save some of the delay as he may have on-line submission of tax forms, the ability to administer oaths and hopefully a razor sharp mind when it comes to knowing all the tax wrinkles, (or does he hand the file to a trainee clerk?). However he will not be able to find the share certificates hidden behind the gas meter nor will he sort through the "heirlooms" (junk) stored in the house. If you don't do it, he will hire someone else to do it for you and the post funeral charges are not tax allowable..

DIY feels a bit like the difference between using the NHS or going private.
Does the latter produce better medical outcomes ?

By the way I'm not talking about sorting out Lord Lucan's estate, just that of a retired night shift worker who was lucky enough to live in a two bed Victortian house inside the M25.

Tax haven Switzerland? Any bets on it taking at least 12 months to be finalised?

John.

The one bright note I've noticed is that in 2002 the probate fee was 130 GBP, now it is 90 GBP.( for estates more than 5,000).:D

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Would that have been a clever life insurance policy written in trust that fell outside the estate?

Prudential sent me a cheque within a month - it is still sitting in my executor account waiting for grant of probate.:rolleyes:

If the proceeds of the life policy fall outside the estate, why is there any need to wait until probate? The life company simply pays the proceeds straight to the beneficiary(ies) doesn't it?

Pee wrote: »

Probably about 7 days. It depends on how busy the Probate Registry are. I think several have been closed, amalgamated recently and so it might be a few days longer.

Was there IHT tax to pay?
In my case it took the tax system 10 weeks, during which time I got no acknowledgement and thought the forms had gone missing! A "pandemic" really could put a spanner in the works,

relaxtwotribes wrote: »

If the proceeds of the life policy fall outside the estate, why is there any need to wait until probate? The life company simply pays the proceeds straight to the beneficiary(ies) doesn't it?

The cheque was made out to the the executor and came from 3 door to door policies, the first of which was dated 1918 - Spanish Flu special?
My "probate" account at the Yorkshire Building Society was happy to take it but not keen to pay out until I had gained probate.
[With 11 beneficiaries, one of whom is HMRC, I have a situation that is too complicated to keep in my brain and so have to keep the "books" spot on accurate.]

luke12341 wrote: »

hi, im looking for some advice my grandparents left a large sum of money in probate in 1964, my mother and her siblings never knew anything about this untill i pulled up a probate record online, since the solicitor that delt with it at the time has stopped trading and is probably deceased himself i dont know where to start, to try and find out what happened to it, any advice would be great

You might get the tax man to help out?
The Nottingham office used to be really helpful and personal but this time I have been hived off to Belfast.
Last time, when my mother popped her clogs, I had to prove that father had paid death duties (there was still a legal charge on the family home preventing its sale before the tax had been paid; which the no longer trading firm of solicitors had not got removed back in 1967). I got a solicitor to drop the tax man a line as he seemed reluctant to dig out the old records on my say so.

Have you got the will from the probate office for the 1960's death. The situation sounds like mine and you might still benefit from the old tax legislation.
If you can disguise the personal details in the will, and publish it here, you might get good advice here.