Online or paper probate

Cazzaloulou68

Afternoon, i am now starting the process of doing probate for my brothers estate who passed 3 weeks after mother. Her estate (no will) and only a little money in the bank is pretty much sorted. My brothers will have to go to probate as property and cash involved. Myself and other sibling are executors. Last time i did a probate,everything was paper based. This time i see i can apply for probate online and pay the fee. I’m assuming i still fill in the iht forms and send them off with copy of will etc. it looks like if i use a pc i can fill in the forms on that then  print them? Also we had the house valued after mother passed around 20th January. Will it be ok to use that valuation, or do we need another one dated more recently? Thank you in advance.

Savvy_Sue

Online applications seem to be processed faster than paper. 

How volatile are house prices in your area? Is the estate liable to IHT? What sort of valuation waa it, estate agent or RICS? Those answers will inform the advice you get.

Cazzaloulou68

Thanks for replying @Savvy_Sue. Yes there will be iht tax to pay. We got 4 valuations at the end of January. Ill definitely apply for probate online, i have the iht ref number and my account all set up ready to go.i just couldn’t see a way to fill in the iht400 and the schedules with it online? Although i have only looked whilst using my ipad at the moment, i could only see it mentioning printing off once filled in.

Runner_Duck

Probate is said to be much quicker if you apply online.
Download the PDF forms and complete them on your PC.  There's some programming behind the scenes so as you plug in the numbers the calculations run.  Once everything entered and checked you need to print them off so all the Execs can sign and date.  You should then copy all the signed forms for your records.  There is a checklist at the end of IHT400 which lists all the documents you need to include when you mail all the original IHT forms to the Inheritance Tax team. 

Cazzaloulou68

Ok thanks for that-i just wanted to make sure I definitely need to print the forms and send, rather than it all being online, ill check to see if i can do on my ipad-but it will prob need to be on a computer.

Keep_pedalling

If you have to do an IHT return that needs to be done before applying for probate.

Savvy_Sue

Going back to the valuation, a RICS price is less likely to be contested by HMRC if you're paying IHT. But if all 4 valuations were close, and prices aren't volatile, then it's less likely to be necessary.