Help please with probate/ Letters of Administration claim

RoNan

Hello ,

I really hope someone may be able to help or advise with my situation .

The basics facts are these -

my father died in 2013 leaving no Will and his only asset being his house that he owned with my mother as joint tenants .

As the house passed automatically to my mother there was no probate and the house was simply transferred solely to my mother .

FF to last year and my mother died and again has no other assets or investments of any kind - just the same family home  which will now pass to her children  ie myself and my siblings who are all well over 18 .

Si i am no looking into applying for Letters of Administration ( also no Will)  to deal with her state which again is only  the house .

My query is regarding the claim of NRB /RNRB for my mothers Estate and also i have read that there is also may be a claim for my later fathers' unused NRB /RNRB on behalf of my mother to add this to her Estate when i apply ?

I'm confused by the amount of  IHT forms etc - so can anyone advise how i should apply for the above ie  i have read that i should firstly just send the Probate  form PA1A and wait to be asked if any further forms are required to  be sent or do i need to fill in any  IHT Forms ie 435 &436 all at the same time .

You can probably tell i have never done anything like this before so i'm a complete newbie in need of help - particularly if anyone has been through similar  application/ claim to the above .

TIA

poseidon1

What is the value of the house?  If noticeably below £650k, you have no need to apply to use your father's residential nil rate band ( only his £325k NRB), which would make your form filling a little more straightforward.

A bit more information would therefore be helpful,

Keep_pedalling

As above, if you can get away with just her NRB and the transferable NRB from your father’s estate you can avoid the hassle of doing an IHT return. 

RoNan

Hi ,

Thank you both for your prompt replies .

The area of estimating the property value is also unclear to me but i have read to use online property to get an initial estimate for the Probate application?

That being the case i used one (not sure if i can use names but it's a  large National Building Soc ) and that gave a value as at the time /date of my Mums death as £635,000.

Keep_pedalling

RoNan said:

Hi ,

Thank you both for your prompt replies .

The area of estimating the property value is also unclear to me but i have read to use online property to get an initial estimate for the Probate application?

That being the case i used one (not sure if i can use names but it's a  large National Building Soc ) and that gave a value as at the time /date of my Mums death as £635,000.

You really need to get a proper valuation, if you under value it you will find yourself facing a CGT liability when you sell it. You could get a paid for RICS valuation, or get 3 estate agents valuations and go with the highest valuation. If this takes you close to £650k then it might be wise to actually go down the IHT return and claim her RNR`b on top of the transferable NRB from your father’s estate. 

RAS

In which case paying for a RICS valuation is going to be a lot less hassle than arguing with HMRC about whether the actual value is below or above the NRB allowances.

If you don't need to pay IHT and do an on-line application, you can get the house on the market as soon as it's empty and clean.

RoNan

Thanks again for your replies - just to clarify , the house is not being sold the siblings all agree and wish to keep in the family and transfer into all their names with one to continue living there.

One further detail on the property ( i only mention as it affects property value) is that it has an agricultural Occupancy Condition /Tie which i understand can devalue normal valuation by between  20-40%.

Keep_pedalling

RoNan said:

Thanks again for your replies - just to clarify , the house is not being sold the siblings all agree and wish to keep in the family and transfer into all their names with one to continue living there.

One further detail on the property ( i only mention as it affects property value) is that it has an agricultural Occupancy Condition /Tie which i understand can devalue normal valuation by between  20-40%.

You definitely need to get a RICS valuation. Even though there will be no IHT you need to establish the current valuation as there will likely be CGT liabilities for the owners who do not live there at some point in the future.

Are any of the beneficiaries who won’t be living there not current home owners? 

RoNan

The other siblings/beneficiaries - 2 are homeowners living in their own properties , a third rents , leaving a fourth which they wish to remain living at the family home .

RoNan

Returning to the initial query - after obtaining  a proper valuation and assuming (hopefully)  a similar valuation is given -

for future reference what forms will i need to fill in if just claiming both parents NRB's - and is this all applied for along or within the Probate application form ?

But depending on valuation - should a claim be required for both parents RNRB , what extra  Forms would be required then ?

TIA

poppystar

Assuming total value of the estate remains under £650k then only Probate forms need to be completed on which you would claim it to be an excepted estate.

If the total goes over the £650k then you will need to use one or both Residential nil rate bands and will need to do a full IHT return before applying for Probate. How many forms you will need to complete depends on what is included in the estate. The main form IHT400 will guide you on which other forms are needed - which will include those for claiming the RNRB.