IHT409 - Can I send later?

jmr95

Hi Folks,

Currently dealing with an estate with an employers pension, so I need to submit IHT409. The issue is, I am at the behest of the pension provider, who have been in touch, but are not exactly fast.

Two key questions:

- Presumably IHT409 is well known to them. Can I expect documentation to be sent that would give me the necessary info, or do I need to request it? There are 2 pensions for two separate organisations, but both fall under the same LGPS.

- Can I submit the rest of the IHT400 and note this will come later? This is a discretionary fund and I am named as a beneficiary and my parent was under the age of 75 so there is a death grant; but it will not form part of the estate

I am otherwise ready to submit the paperwork, and I am very keen to get probate sorted....but waiting for the pension provider could potentially take several more weeks.

Advice appreciated.

Thanks

Keep_pedalling

I don’t think so. Have you any idea of the value? If you have I would include that estimate on IHT409. As it is discretionary that value does not have to go across to IHT 400 and does not impact the amount of IHT payable. You can add estimated values but only have to report any changes to those values later if it has an impact on IHT. 

jmr95

Thanks for clarifying. I have the figure for the death grant, but there are other questions which are not clear

It's incredibly frustrating doing all this paperwork when there is no tax to pay and when they know for a fact that discretionary grants don't form part of the estate...but of course rather than making it a case of 'file this if it's applicable' I have to waste my time filing endless forms for literally no reason.

Rant aside, questions that i find confusing:

9 - Was the death benefit payable to the deceased’s personal representatives because there was no one else to receive the payment?

I assume if there is a beneficiary, the answer is NO

10 - Was the death benefit payable to the deceased’s personal representatives because it contained an element of protected rights?

No idea what this means

11 - 'Could the deceased, right up to their death, have signed a binding ‘nomination’ which obliged the trustees of the pension scheme to make a payment to a person nominated by the deceased?' 

Does this mean could they have filled in a beneficary form? As they did

It also wants all details of all payments paid in within 2 years of death:

'Did the deceased or the deceased’s employer make any contributions to a pension scheme within the 2 years before the date of death?'

Well obviously they did because they were in employment, must I list every months contribution for 2 years?

Do I need to report death benefit value and who recieved it, if it's discretionary? The question about the value even says only report on IHT400 if you did not answer question 12 (is it at trustees discretion) as 'yes' - but that's not clear if it means you can omit it from IHT409, and the IHT400 notes are vague and useless.

jmr95

After further digging, as this is a discretionary fund I am dealng with...

9 - No
10 - No
11 - Really feels like a trap question to remove the 'discretionary' aspect - No

I will use 'PENDING VALUE' for the value, since I do not need to add it to IHT400

For the contributions aspect, research suggests it is acceptable to say 'normal and routine contributions were made via monthly salary, no unusual lump sums or transfers were made' (which is true in this case)

Still, would appreciate any wisdom on this one.