PA1P, IHT400, reliefs, Excepted estate & Probate where assets pass to surviving spouse

Daffylad

Hi All
I submitted PA1P probate application for the death of my father (Dec-24) under the impression that IHT400 is not required as estate would fall under Excepted rule as all assets pass to surviving spouse, his wife as per the will. The online checker on Gov.UK confirmed no IHT to pay.
The gross vale of the estate is valued above the nil rate band 325K. No other exemptions were claimed. The estate is relatively simple, half of house/bank account/shares/savings.
I have today received an email from Probate Office asking to complete a IHT400 & submit to HMRC.

This must be a common occurrence where all assets pass to surviving spouse. In this instance is IHT400 still required does anyone have experience of what needs completing in this example? What is the simplified IHT400 in this case?

I'm confused as had read the help online at Gov.uk a few times but it is not 100% clear what needs completing. 

Anyone had experience of the above I would welcome your thoughts and guidance.

Keep_pedalling

The only thing I can think of is either the probate office has made an error or you made an error on the probate application. 

Daffylad

Keep_pedalling said:

The only thing I can think of is either the probate office has made an error or you made an error on the probate application. 

Thanks for the reply. Just hoping someone has experience of assets passing to spouse like this as it must happen in 1,000s of circumstances and be very common.

Not sure how I check whether it's me or probate office who has made a mistake 

Keep_pedalling

Daffylad said:

Keep_pedalling said:

The only thing I can think of is either the probate office has made an error or you made an error on the probate application. 

Thanks for the reply. Just hoping someone has experience of assets passing to spouse like this as it must happen in 1,000s of circumstances and be very common.

Not sure how I check whether it's me or probate office who has made a mistake 

It is, there should be no need to complete an IHT return for an exempt estate covered entirely by spousal exemption. I would suggest you contact the probate office and ask why they have asked you to do this.

buddy9

What value did you enter for NQV in 7.3? Should be zero in this case.

Keep_pedalling

buddy9 said:

What value did you enter for NQV in 7.3? Should be zero in this case.

Good call, that is the most likely issue. 

Daffylad

Keep_pedalling said:

buddy9 said:

What value did you enter for NQV in 7.3? Should be zero in this case.

Good call, that is the most likely issue. 

Many thanks both of you for your reply. I have checked the online IHT print out for my father and it does state NQV is zero. Maybe I made a mistake completing it online so I will call the probate service and check. I'll report back what they say.

AP3

I you enter all the relevant information here, it should tell straight away if an IHT is due: https://www.gov.uk/valuing-estate-of-someone-who-died/estimate-estate-value

Daffylad

AP3 said:

I you enter all the relevant information here, it should tell straight away if an IHT is due: https://www.gov.uk/valuing-estate-of-someone-who-died/estimate-estate-value

Thanks AP3 yes I know the values etc as used this tool to complete form PA1P. The issue here is there is no IHT to pay as all assets pass to my dad's wife, my mother. Probate have asked me to complete IHT400 which I believe is not required due to this fact. For some reason the spouse exemption has not been recognised. It is this point I'm trying to fathom out.