Excepted estate qualification

I can’t recall seeing this question coming up and I’ve looked at some notes which Professor Leslie King issued about the new rules and I could not see my issue covered. My issue is that I have been asked to apply for a grant of probate in a case where the deceased widow left estate of approximately £170,000 to her three children. However in 1999 she gifted her home to them but continued to live there until she died just having attained 100 years. Under the pre-1 January 2022, it would’ve been necessary to submit an IHT 400 as question 3 would have been answered with a ‘yes‘. I cannot see in the notes I have anything about this. Clearly it will be a waste of time For HMRC and more costly for my clients if I have to prepare an IHT 400. Comments please

Patrick Moroney

Sorry just realised that it is included in the online process and therefore in this instance an IHT 400 will not be required. I wonder how many people making personal applications will fill in the details correctly?

Patrick Moroney

By chance a colleague of mine recently spoke to someone who was in the process of completing an online probate application and they had no idea of the significance of the Property Trust in half the house. It was only because we’d written to them re the TRS.

As well as Trust assets, there is also the issue re: gifts and foreign property that the IHT 205 flagged up. Also, joint assets which many assume as passing by survivorship means IHT can not occur. There may be guidance, but it’s naïve to think lay PRs will actually read it as they will assume it’s all covered in the online probate process. I do believe removing the 205 in this way will lead to misreporting either accidentally or on purpose.