Question about the inventory on Scottish Probate C1 form

davesland

Hello everyone,

I have just received the C1 Confirmation form back for my late mother's estate from the Sheriff Court, accompanied by a generic rejection letter. There is no specific guidance explaining why the form was knocked back.I understand this blanket rejection is quite common for estates handled without a solicitor, but having gone through the form with a fine-tooth comb and using AI to double-check my arithmetic, I am at a complete loss.My leading theory is that my Inventory of the estate lacks the specific level of detail the court requires. I have read highly conflicting advice online—some posts suggest keeping descriptions strictly concise, while others include an exhaustive amount of information.Could anyone provide clarity on the following specific items?

• The Property (Heritable Estate): I have listed her home as "Dwelling house at [Full Address], owned solely by the deceased, value estimated on local sales evidence." Do I need to explicitly state or attach evidence of how I reached this valuation?
• Bank Accounts: I have grouped these by the name of the bank, followed by a bulleted list detailing each individual account with its sort code and account number. I have seen examples where people include the physical address of the bank. Is a bank address strictly necessary? If so, given that these accounts were opened online, should I use the bank's head office address or a local branch?
• Motor Vehicle: I listed the vehicle with its registration number and an estimated value derived from online price guides. Do I need to state the source of this valuation or provide physical evidence of the price guide printout?
• Personal Belongings & Cash: I provided a nominal, realistic figure for household goods/personal effects and cash in her possession at the time of death. Am I right to assume that no formal evidence or breakdown is required for this nominal figure?

I am grateful for your insights.Thanks in advance for any help!

buddy9

Solicitors also get their C1s rejected.

Here are some suggestions and comments:

House

Are you certain about house ownership and the current ownership as stated in the title in the land register? It is not uncommon for house ownership to be misunderstood, or to be incorrectly assumed, or to still hold the name of a predeceased spouse (without a survivorship clause). This aspect will not have affected the rejection because the court does not check ownership - but you need to be certain to avoid future problems.

If the house is registered in the land register then an entry in column 2 might look like below. (If still in the sasines register the description would be different).

Dwelling house at [Full Address and postcode] being the subjects described in the Land Register of Scotland under title number [XXX 0000]

Valued by executor

Bank accounts

Grouping under name of bank should be fine. Add the bank’s head office, the location of which will determine whether this is estate in Scotland, or England and Wales, or Northern Ireland.

Motor vehicle

Use ‘valued by executor’

Personal belongings and cash

Include a separate entry for ‘Cash in house’ and include the exact amount.

Include a separate entry for ‘personal belongings and household effect’ and use ‘valued by executor’. No evidence or breakdown needed - unless there is something unique with a particularly high value.

…………………………………..

Your emphasis is on the inventory, but completion standards for pages 2 and 5 of the C1 are commonly a reason for rejection. You might wish to post a redacted copy of your C1 on the forum for comments.

davesland

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Thank you very much for the advice. As suggested, I have attached a redacted version of the C1 form.Regarding the bank accounts,

I will list the head office addresses rather than the local branches my mother used. Consequently, I will move these assets from the Scotland section to the England section, where the banks' head offices are located. Does that sound correct?

To clarify a couple of other points: my father was also named as an executor in the will but passed away several years ago. I have listed him as an executor with "(deceased)" next to his name and noted this in the declaration.

Additionally, the £6,000 difference between the total inventory and the inheritance tax figure is due to a £10,000 gift made within seven years of death, minus the £3,000 annual exemption and a £1,000 unused allowance carried forward from the previous year.

As far as the supporting documents i sent with the c1 they were - three forms of id (accepted), my mothers death certificate, my fathers death certificate, the will docqueted and the marriage certificate of my mother and father, These were all original documents. Would there be any other supporting documents worth sending?

buddy9

Two questions.

Were you and your deceased father stated as co-executors or are you a substitute (whom failing) executor.

Regarding the page 2 declaration -who is it that had a changed address?

davesland

Hi Buddy, My father and I were co-executors. My own address had changed since the writing of the will.

buddy9

Page 1 box 10. One entry only - do not include your father.

Page 2 para 1 second box. enter “the Sheriffdom of North Strathclyde in Scotland”

Page 2 para2. Assuming that you have the original will and that there are no other differences or errors in names or addresses, here is a suggestion - 

That I am

the son and executor-nominate of the said deceased conform to her will dated the 28th of October 2013 which is produced, docquetted and signed by me as relative hereto. In said will I am designed as residing at [enter address as in will] a former address. [Father’s name as in will] the husband of the said deceased who was also appointed executor in said will predeceased the said deceased.

Page 3 in addition to my previous comments: the account entries would benefit from a different amount of detail such as.

Sort code 66-00-11 Deposit Account number 0055278999

Balance at date of death including interest

The lettering a,b,c etc in the first column would sit best within the 2nd column

Page 4 box 13 and 14 - I think a zero entry is better than leaving empty.

Page 5 looks fine

Where an estate is below the IHT threshold, if a house is to be sold it is commonly advised to adopt a generous but justifiable value to avoid/reduce concerns about capital gains tax.

I assume that you have docquetted the Will with the same date as the C1 and that the docquet is not on an unsigned cover page.

Remember to include your phone contact number on a cover note.

davesland

Thanks Buddy you have been a great help. The will was docqueted with the same date as c1 form and on the will itself not a cover page. I will look to follow your other recommendations before resubmitting the form.

davesland

Another quick question, if I'm signing a fresh C1 form with a new date, what happens to the docquet on the Will? The original docquet has the old date, so it's no longer "of even date."

buddy9

resubmit the C1 with the original date