Which IHT forms?

PeterND

My Mum died in Spain where she lived for many years. Her Spanish Will is being administered by her Spanish accountant and I believe it is all under control.
I am the Executor and sole beneficiary of her UK Will. On the face of it it should be simple enough but because she died outside the UK the paperwork cannot be done online and will need to be paper copy posted. Even though the the assets are bank accounts only, less than threshold for IHT I have to fill out IHT 400 and IHT 401 and because she previously lived in the Uk many years ago I cannot use IHT207. It also looks like I need to fill in other Schedules such as IHT435, IHT404 IHT406, IHT409, IHT417, and possibly others. All of a sudden this has become a nightmare where on the surface it appeared to be a simple process..
Only cash, no other beneficiaries, I hold a joint account and even have my own account at the same bank.
Slight complication, I live in Australia. Have I over complicated it? Can someone enlighten me please or confirm that I am on the right track with this IHT stuff!
Thanks for listening.
Holding my breath,
Peter

Savvy_Sue

Any idea how much you're talking about?

The joint bank account should pass automatically to you.

How much in each of the others? Are the accounts below the limit where you can withdraw without probate?

How much of a rush are you in? There's no time limit on applying for probate, and if you're the only beneficiary, no pressure unless you need the money now. Do you have plans to visit the UK?

Keep_pedalling

Probate may not actually be required. Banks have self imposed limits on how much they will pay the administrator without the need to apply for probate. I am not sure if the same rules apply to the account of a expat but in the first instance I would call the bereavement team of her UK bank.

PeterND

Thanks Savvy Sue and Keep Pedalling. for your replies. Lloyds have a limit of £50,000. This is more, in two accounts but far less than the threshold for Inheritance tax. In Spain there are two accounts under a Spanish Will. Even combined with the UK money the amount is still less than that threshold. I have already contacted the Bereavement team and been assured that I need to go to Probate. Which is what I'm doing but the IHT forms are a nightmare. The joint account only has a few thousand in it (less that 5) and will be available to me without probate once they take my mother's name off the account. I have no plans to visit the UK.

Keep_pedalling

PeterND said:

Thanks Savvy Sue and Keep Pedalling. for your replies. Lloyds have a limit of £50,000. This is more, in two accounts but far less than the threshold for Inheritance tax. In Spain there are two accounts under a Spanish Will. Even combined with the UK money the amount is still less than that threshold. I have already contacted the Bereavement team and been assured that I need to go to Probate. Which is what I'm doing but the IHT forms are a nightmare. The joint account only has a few thousand in it (less that 5) and will be available to me without probate once they take my mother's name off the account. I have no plans to visit the UK.

With an estate below £325k you won’t need to claim the residential NRB, or any transferable NRB if she was a widow, so I think the only supplementary forms you will need are 401 (non UK resident) 403 (joint bank account) and 406 (sole bank accounts).

PeterND

I've done the IHT calculator and the result is that there is no tax to pay (yay!)

BUT :

"You’ll need to submit a full estate account to HMRC because the person who died had foreign assets worth more than £100,000"............

Submit a full return of estate (link to site) using form IHT400. 

Because my Mum did live "at any time" in the UK that means IHT401 PLUS all the relevant schedules. Back to square 1

Someone tell me I'm wrong please! This seems so ludicrous......

PeterND

Really appreciate your input Savvy Sue!

Savvy_Sue

PeterND said:

I've done the IHT calculator and the result is that there is no tax to pay (yay!)

BUT :

"You’ll need to submit a full estate account to HMRC because the person who died had foreign assets worth more than £100,000"............

Submit a full return of estate (link to site) using form IHT400. 

Because my Mum did live "at any time" in the UK that means IHT401 PLUS all the relevant schedules. Back to square 1

Someone tell me I'm wrong please! This seems so ludicrous......

You MAY find (and it's a long time since I had to execute, and it was all straightforward) that each of the supplementary forms requires one answer, and then you can ignore the rest of the questions. So don't despair yet! 

For the foreign asset, it may be more complicated than that. 

It might be worth hunting around for an accountant who can help you through this, I'm thinking either remotely or finding one over there who specialises in UK tax and inheritance. If you found one here, you may well be able to Zoom initially (they'll need to check your ID.)

PeterND

Thanks. I have made seven calls tonight to the IHT 400 Helpline and each time after waiting for 5 to 7 minutes I have been bumped. 
Perhaps you can help me with this question:
Application for an Inheritance tax reference Form IHT422, specifically when there is tax to pay. Do I need a Reference when there is no tax to pay, but I do need to make a full return of estate? All this when the combined assets, UK and Spain, are below the threshold for IHT. Grrrr!

Thanks Sue.

Keep_pedalling

You don’t need to apply for the reference where no IHT is due.

PeterND

Thank for clarifying that. Makes sense to me! 
Happy 2023 to you and yours!
Pete