Inheritance Tax

CountMagnus

My Uncle has an estate which goes over the inheritance tax threshold.

There are almost no liquid assets.

Most of the value of the estate is in the house and a huge collection of stamps and other phillatelic material.

The value of which might be similar to the house.

Getting it valued and sold will take at least a couple of years.

Selling the house to cover it presumably can't be done until you get probate.

As far as I understand you can't get probate if you haven't got a value for the estate.

In this instance by the time the estate is valued and sold, a lot will have been eaten up in the interest due after the 6 months deadline.

It seems like you can pay in installments on something like a house or other assets that are difficult to sell quickly.

Does anyome know if this applies to a stamp collection and if so would it minimise the interest payable?

p00hsticks

CountMagnus said:

Getting it valued and sold will take at least a couple of years.

Why ? Sold perhaps, but I would expect it shouldn't take long to get valued if you took it to somewhere like Stanley Gibbons. 

And, unless your uncle was a VERY serious collector, be prepared for it to be worth a lot less than you think it is....

CountMagnus

Thanks for your comment. He was a very serious collector over a very long period of time.

km1500

just to.say that I have heard stamp collections are worth nowhere near what one thinks they are. You may find you don't have as much IHT to pay as you think you do ?

CountMagnus

I helped him with his collection over the last 20 years or so and am also a collector although not to the same heights.
I have a pretty decent idea of it's value and the ins and outs of auction houses.
I'm really looking for advice from someone who has been in a similar situation regarding items that are difficult to sell that aren't property or shares and whether such items qualify for paying in installments and if that means accruing less interest.
But, thank you for the comments so far.

lisyloo

So why do you think the estate is difficult to value if you have a pretty decent of the collection's value?
Properties are easy - get a proper surveyors valuation.
Personally I'd get professional valuations of both in your situation even if it means someone lending a few hundred.

Marketing a house can be done before probate, so shouldn't hold up the selling process at all.

If the estate is big enough to attract IHT then the interest should not be swallowing it up.

So none of the beneficiaries could loan their share?

Keep_pedalling

There is nothing stopping you submitting the IHT forms using estimated values, then getting probate submitted with the same values, so not having an accurate value does not stopping you applying for probate.

i doubt whether anyone here has dealt with such with such unusual assets so I think your best bet is to speak to HMRC for advice on being able to pay by instalments.