IHT and Nil Band Rate question

jalvpa

Hi there

I am assisting my husband and his brother in administrating their Mum's wills. We don't want to use a solicitor, its not massively complex but don't want to make any mistakes on the forms - there will be IHT due so will be using 400 form.

In terms of nil rate band and IHT threshhold, is my understanding below correct:

Dad passed away without a will so whole estate including house went to mum so no IHT threshhold used.
Mum passed away with a will leaving everything to two sons including house. No gifts made.
So
Dad IHT Threshold of £325,000 available (died 2005)
Dad nil rate band on house of £100,000 available
Mum IHt Threshold of £325,000 available (died 2017)
Mum nil rate band on house of £100,000 available

Total: £850,000 available on the whole estate

I am not sure whether a nil rate band on the house for their Dad is available to use?

Thanks to everyone who reads and responds.

Yorkshireman99

What is the total value of the estate?

jalvpa

Its in the region of £874k, that includes house around the £265k mark, the rest is mostly cash and about £55k in shares.

nom_de_plume

jalvpa wrote: »

Dad passed away without a will so whole estate including house went to mum so no IHT threshhold used.

Dad IHT Threshold of £325,000 available (died 2005).

Were the house and all other assets held in joint names at that time (assuming the estate had a similar value)?

The reason I ask is that having no will *could have* effectively resulted in using some of Dad's allowance if he held more than £125,000 in his own name.

jalvpa

From what i can see, the house was in joint names but he held some shares in his own name as i can see from his old paperwork that shares were transferred over to his wife. Not sure on bank accounts to be honest. Is there anywhere i can check what he used? I am sure there is a copy of his grant of probate in the paperwork.

Yorkshireman99

jalvpa wrote: »

From what i can see, the house was in joint names but he held some shares in his own name as i can see from his old paperwork that shares were transferred over to his wife. Not sure on bank accounts to be honest. Is there anywhere i can check what he used? I am sure there is a copy of his grant of probate in the paperwork.

You said your father did not leave a will so did someone apply for letters of administration to admister his estate? If the accounts were not in joint names under the intestacy rules a lot of the estate should have passed to the childern, All that needs sorting out before your mother's estate can be dealt with. At some point you may need paid for professional advice to sort out the potential mess.

Keep_pedalling

nom_de_plume wrote: »

Were the house and all other assets held in joint names at that time (assuming the estate had a similar value)?

The reason I ask is that having no will *could have* effectively resulted in using some of Dad's allowance if he held more than £125,000 in his own name.

With the amount of cash involved here there is a good chance, some of his nil rate band was used as 50% of his sole assets over £125k should have passed to his children. If in doubt take professional advice.

jalvpa

Yes it was all done professionally via a solicitor, nothing at all passed to the children, a grant of probate was obtained and following that, the shares were put into his wife's name.

Yorkshireman99

jalvpa wrote: »

Yes it was all done professionally via a solicitor, nothing at all passed to the children, a grant of probate was obtained and following that, the shares were put into his wife's name.

Noted. You really do need to sort out exactly what happened.Under the intestacy tules some of your father's estate should have passed to the children unless a lot of the cash was in joint names. It sounds as if you need paid for professional advice even if you deal with a lot of the work yourselves,

jalvpa

Thanks for the advise. I've checked and its was actually 1995 and not 2005 that FIL died apologies. There is a figure on his Grant of Probate and it was below the threshold at the time and all his estate passed to his wife. I assume that as he didn't "will" his estate to his wife that passing on a nil rate band rule is different. I'll get my husband to give the Bereavement Helpline at HMRC a ring. Thanks again.

nom_de_plume

If the OP obtains copies of the fathers Probate record via a Probate search will this include details of any IHT paid or can this information only be obtained by a personal visit to the local office?

Posted at same time as above so suddenly not so relevant...