Inheritance tax

Crownlyn

Again thank you for all your replies, I will come back to them as and when needed but for the time being I need to park the applying for probate and filling out the IHT form until after all the funeral arrangements/other paperwork that follows when someone passes away has been done. As you all know there's a lot to do.
I will start by arranging for the RIC valuation though.

Keep_pedalling

You will need all those supplementary sheets, but take your time over this. You will need the help of an accountant to deal with all the income associated with the rental properties so they should also be able to assist with the forms.

poseidon1

Keep_pedalling said:

You will need all those supplementary sheets, but take your time over this. You will need the help of an accountant to deal with all the income associated with the rental properties so they should also be able to assist with the forms.

Ideally a STEP qualified accountant versed in probate reporting matters. This will tend to point to Chartered Accountants who are members of ICAEW. By no means do all accountants have probate competency.

Crownlyn

Thank you for your replies, I have just had a quote for over £14000 by a legal firm to fill out the forms which seems excessive.
I am waiting on a quote from a solicitor and then I'll I decide how to proceed.

poseidon1

Crownlyn said:

Thank you for your replies, I have just had a quote for over £14000 by a legal firm to fill out the forms which seems excessive.
I am waiting on a quote from a solicitor and then I'll I decide how to proceed.

I am assuming your accountant did not feel qualified to assist with completing the IHT forms which would be cheaper than a law firm involvement ( hourly charge rate should be cheaper than a lawyer).

If the accountant is not au fait with such a basic task, I do wonder if they are a Chartered firm (ie member of ICAEW), and if they are not, do they have competency to advise  you  going forward on other  proactive tax planning matters you will need personally, rather than handle mere annual tax compliance on your behalf. There are important tax changes ahead for landlords.

I appreciate you will naturally turn to a lawyer for assistance on obtaining probate, but since 2014 (much to the consternation of the legal profession) some firms of accountants have taken the opportunity granted to them by the Legal Services Board to offer probate services, which hitherto was a reserved activity restricted to law firms - see below

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice/icaew-approved-to-regulate-probate-and-license-abss/5042605.article

If your accountant is not one such firm, you could consider widening your search for professional help to include an appropriately qualified ICAEW member firm.

Crownlyn

poseidon1 said:

Crownlyn said:

Thank you for your replies, I have just had a quote for over £14000 by a legal firm to fill out the forms which seems excessive.
I am waiting on a quote from a solicitor and then I'll I decide how to proceed.

I am assuming your accountant did not feel qualified to assist with completing the IHT forms which would be cheaper than a law firm involvement ( hourly charge rate should be cheaper than a lawyer).

If the accountant is not au fait with such a basic task, I do wonder if they are a Chartered firm (ie member of ICAEW), and if they are not, do they have competency to advise  you  going forward on other  proactive tax planning matters you will need personally, rather than handle mere annual tax compliance on your behalf. There are important tax changes ahead for landlords.

I appreciate you will naturally turn to a lawyer for assistance on obtaining probate, but since 2014 (much to the consternation of the legal profession) some firms of accountants have taken the opportunity granted to them by the Legal Services Board to offer probate services, which hitherto was a reserved activity restricted to law firms - see below

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice/icaew-approved-to-regulate-probate-and-license-abss/5042605.article

If your accountant is not one such firm, you could consider widening your search for professional help to include an appropriately qualified ICAEW member firm.

Hi poseidon1
Thank you for your advice.
My mum and dad have used the same chartered accountants for many years for my dads business up until he retired and for the flat rentals, they seem very professional but it wasn't them that I thought of for the assistance as I have only ever provided them the information to file a self assessment on behalf of my mum. It was my accountant that I use for my business that I initially asked and although she was more than happy to help me, she was honest and said that she wasn't familiar with IHT forms.
I have since spoken with the probate side of the firm of solicitors that I have used in the past, again for business use and provided her with all the details and she has listed the work that needs to be done to apply for probate etc and her quote is much closer to where I want to be - under £4500 inclusive of vat. I'm happy with that (well not exactly happy) but it's a relief to be able to pass everything over to her.  I feel so overwhelmed with it all and the quote of nearly 15k really astounded me.