Timesacle for HMRC checking inheritance tax liability

AiryFairyMe

Hello 👋 Thanks in advance for any knowledge 🙂

Does anyone know how long HMRC is taking to "check solicitors work" so to speak at moment? 
The probate solicitor for my uncle's estate has done everything required, (the house was sold some months ago now) but has sent their conclusions to the HMRC to check their is no tax liable. There shouldn't be as the estate is well under the threshold.and there are no gifts or anything.
The solicitor says they (HMRC) have no idea how long this might take.
I also thought that any inheritance tax needs to be paid within 6 months of the person's death. It has been well over this time.
Is this normal for a solicitor to do?
The family has had a very stressful couple of years and this feels like an unnecessary delay for closure for them.

Thanks

user1977

It doesn't sound normal to me, if there is nothing potentially contentious involved. Are the solicitors also the executors?

AiryFairyMe

No a family member is the executor they didn't feel able to do the whole process.
Just wondered if anyone else has had this.
Personally I think it's been a bad choice of probate solicitor. They are extremely expensive compared to others I've looked into. Perhaps they are just super careful, belt n braces. Or like having thousands of pounds sitting in their bank for as long as possible? Perhaps I'm just a suspicious old bag! 😄
Thanks for commenting.

user1977

So the solicitors are merely advising the executor (rather than actually running the show), in which case the executor is free to instruct the solicitors to do something else...sounds like the solicitors don't have much faith in the quality of their own tax advice.

thegreenone

That sounds back to front to me.  When Mum died, the solicitor sent all the paperwork to HMRC first to establish if IHT was payable.  It wasn't.  They then sent it to the OPG for the Grant of Probate.  It all took seven weeks (in 2021).  

graymanuk

Just ask the solicitor exactly what they're waiting for.  As other posters have mentioned, the IHT submission happens before probate.  There should be no reason to return to IHT unless there's a major difference between the original estimate on the IHT forms and what the assets actually sold for.  Check if that's the case.

Alternatively, it might not be related to  IHT.  The solicitor might be submitting income tax returns for the deceased and/or the estate. Were there any life assurance policies with chargeable gains - that can trigger a need to submit a tax return for the deceased which asks HMRC to calculate tax due.

The solicitor should explain to the executor exactly what's happening.

kuratowski

It sounds like the solicitor is waiting for a clearance certificate (IHT30).  That's a normal thing for a professional handling the estate to do.