My grandma died today

getmore4less

If you have an offer that you think will go through put that down.

troubleinparadise

If HMRC are unsure about the house valuation they may approach the District Valuer for your area to validate it - if you feel confident that the amount is right for both the house in its present state and how it compares with others nearby, then there shouldn't be an issue.

Dan-Dan

Morning all

Grandad died in 1996 , i have printed that form off and will look to fill that out to supplement form 205 , but as above , we are very happy that this valuation would be supported , the houses in the close (only 8 of them) go so rarely (i.e when someone pops off!) that there isnt a general track record to really hang your hat on completley

Dan-Dan

appears i need the will at the time , which i dont have , but we do have the death certificate , will have to speak to the registery office that was dealt with at the time....all of which delays probate more and more UNLESS i tell them £324k as above and be prepared to have it analysed

troubleinparadise

We paid the IHT due and were granted Probate; HMRC then analysed the return, which was when I learned that the house valuation was being verified. Meanwhile we were able to get on with dealing with the rest of the estate using the Probate grant.

The house was a similar one-off to yours; in an area of mixed ages, sizes and styles, and quite a wide range of value, so it didn't fall neatly into a category. It was also quite a low value vs other assets in the estate, so that probably also flagged it up.

As it was, the District Valuer upheld the valuation made by a chartered surveyor, and all was accepted. Had HMRC felt there was an under-valuation I'm sure we would have had to pay more IHT.

Dan-Dan

Thanks TIP , the only thing in the estate is the house , so i pretty much could do with it all being straightfoward , we have contacted the solicitors that held grandmas will to see if they have a copy of grandads , because the guy that handled grandads affairs , died himself in 1998 (our uncle) , we know obviously grandma was passed the house , but we just need the will to say this , and i dont think probate was required in 1996 so the will wont be public record....

Jewels-L

Hello Mrs Dan-Dan

Sorry for the late reply. Yes I did swear the oath at a local solicitors. It only took 5 minutes and it cost about £15 for both my dad and me (we are both executors). It was the easiest part of the whole process!

JohnW

Hi,

Don't know if this is too late, but hope it helps.

My father died in 2011, mum in 1993.

Did probate myself (estate was straightforward: cash + house, but valued above £325k IHT limit).

But re: IHT, cos Mum predeceased him (no Will, no probate), I was able to use the IHT 217 (transfer of nil-rate) to double Dad's estate IHT threshold to £650,000 and thus pay no IHT.

Just a point re your house valuation. Note that you only pay the 40% IHT on anything OVER the limit.

So say the house was worth £350,000, then you'd pay 40% of the 25,000 that you exceeded the limit by. £325,000 is what you keep tax-free.

So, if your Grandad's IHT allowance can be transferred to your Grandma's estate to make your limit £650,000 then you may, but probably not want to, revisit the house valuation ...

Cheers

John

Dan-Dan

Hi All , just working through everything , and eceived a letter on Saturday from the `debt centre` part of DWP in Gloucester , saying as Nan received benefits , they need to check she (or the estate) doesn’t owe them money….seems strange , the DWP wrote to me a few weeks ago asking me for bank details as they believe they may owe her some!?
We know what Nan was paid pension credit and pension wise etc ,so arent unduly worried , but the fact it comes from a dept labelled `debt centre` makes us feel uneasy!

troubleinparadise

Is there a phone number to call them and find out what they might be referring to?

That way you might be able to stop worrying. But it is frustrating when it seems that two departments within an organisation have two different stories!