Probate, the estate and inheritance tax

A Buy-and-Sell Clause Can Cost the Estate Business Relief A binding obligation to sell shares can strip business relief; matched options do not. The tax difference on one shareholding, and the wording behind it. → A Cash ISA Stops Being Tax-Free Unless You Claim the APS A spouse's ISA keeps its tax shelter only for a while, and the extra allowance must be claimed. The deadlines, the forms, and what becomes taxable. → A Council Charge on the House From a Deferred Payment Deal A deferred payment leaves the council holding a legal charge over the home. How fast repayment is demanded, the interest that runs, and the alternatives. → A Credit Card Firm Is Chasing Me for My Dad's Balance A card balance is the estate's debt, not yours. What a creditor may and may not do before a grant exists, and the wording that stops the letters and calls. → A Relevant Life Payout Doesn't Go Through the Estate A relevant life payout runs from the company through a discretionary trust to the family, missing the estate entirely. Follow the money and the tax. → A Sole-Name Overdraft Is Frozen Too — and the Estate Owes It An overdraft in one name is an estate debt, not a widow's. Where it ranks against other creditors, and what to do when it ran the whole household. → A Spanish Apartment Needs a Spanish Probate Too A foreign home usually needs its own succession process, and local heirship rules can override a UK will. Double taxation relief, and two sets of fees. → Am I Allowed to Keep Using My Dad's Bank Card After He Died? Using a dead person's card or online banking is not the same as a bank cancelling a direct debit. Where intermeddling starts, and what it commits you to. → An Empty Probate House Was Broken Into — Who Carries the Loss? Burglary, vandalism or a burst pipe at an empty inherited home: who bears the loss, whether the executor is exposed, and what it takes off the residue. → An English Grant Won't Touch a House in Scotland A cross-border estate can need recognition in both directions. When a grant reaches Scottish assets, when confirmation is needed, and what the delay costs. → An Unused Pension Pot Is Heading Into the Taxable Estate From April 2027 unused pension funds count towards the estate. What that does to a family's net inheritance, and where the tax has to be found from. → Every Direct Debit Stopped the Day the Bank Froze the Account In the first fortnight the mortgage, utilities, insurance and subscriptions all fail. The order it happens in, and which bills to move to your name. → Banks Will Pay a Funeral Invoice From a Frozen Account A frozen account can still settle the funeral director. What to send the bank, how quickly the payment goes out, and which funeral costs it refuses. → Being the Executor From Three Thousand Miles Away Identity checks, original documents, branch appointments and time zones all slow an overseas executor. Weigh power reserved against a UK attorney. → Can an Executor Be Fined for Valuing the House Too Low? HMRC can reopen a property figure years later. What triggers a District Valuer referral, how penalties hit a lay executor, and where liability begins. → Claiming a Nil-Rate Band From a Spouse Who Died in 1994 An allowance left unused in 1994 can still be claimed today. The evidence HMRC accepts, the form and deadline, and what to do when papers are gone. → Claiming on a Life Policy Before the Grant Arrives Some policies pay on the death certificate alone; others wait for the grant. Work out from the paperwork which one you hold, and who the insurer will pay. → Confirmation in Scotland: The Inventory England Never Asks For Scotland runs its own system: an inventory of estate, form C1 and the sheriff court. See step by step how that changes what your family files, and when. → Council Tax on a Late Parent's Empty House During Probate Class F holds the bill at nil until the grant, then six months more. We date the month the estate starts paying, and where an empty-homes premium lands. → Dad Gifted Me £60,000 in 2023 and Now HMRC Wants Tax HMRC looks to the estate first and the recipient second. When taper relief helps, when it does nothing, and the order gifts eat the nil-rate band. → Does a Joint Account Really Pass Straight to the Survivor? Survivorship usually hands the balance to the co-holder, yet banks still ask questions and HMRC can tax a share. Here is what applies to your account. → Excepted Estate or IHT400? The Form That Adds Months Most estates now report on the grant application alone. See which asset, gift or trust pushes yours onto a full HMRC account, and the weeks that adds. → Giving the House Away but Living in It Still Counts as Yours Signing the house over while still living there keeps it in the estate for tax. The market-rent test that avoids it, and the charge that catches you. → HMRC Says Dad Owed Tax for the Year He Died A final Self Assessment covers the period to the date of death. Who signs and files it, how HMRC collects, and where the debt ranks against others. → How Much Each UK Bank Releases Without a Grant of Probate No bank publishes its threshold clearly, so we keep a table of them. Check what each bank, building society and NS&I will release before a grant exists. → How to Find Out If a Parent Had Any Life Cover at All No paperwork does not mean no policy. Work through bank statements, old employers, mortgage-era cover and the Unclaimed Assets Register, in order. → I've Funded My Mum's Estate for Five Months on My Own Card Executors routinely fund an estate for months. Which costs come back, the receipts to keep from day one, the wait, and the interest you never recover. → IHT423: Paying Inheritance Tax From a Frozen Bank Account Tax falls due before any money is released, so HMRC lets banks pay it direct. Follow the Direct Payment Scheme in order, including the banks that decline. → Legal Rights in Scotland: Children Can Claim Against a Will A Scottish will cannot cut a child out of the moveable estate. Work out the share you can claim, the choice you must make, and what sits outside it. → Month Seven: What HMRC Does When the IHT Isn't Paid Interest starts on day one of month seven and does not pause for a delayed grant. How HMRC calculates it, and the moves still open to an executor. → My Brother Is Co-Executor and Won't Sign Anything When one executor stalls, the routes run from power reserved to citation to removal. What each costs, how long it takes, and who waits meanwhile. → No Children, So No Extra Property Allowance for the Estate The extra property allowance follows direct descendants only. Why a house left to a niece, nephew or friend gets none of it, and what that gap costs. → Paying IHT on an Inherited House in Ten Yearly Instalments Ten yearly payments sound like breathing space until the interest and sale rule bite. Which assets qualify, and when the whole balance falls due. → Paying Life Premiums Out of Income HMRC Never Taxes Regular premiums met from surplus income can leave the estate at once, with no seven-year wait. The records HMRC expects, and where the claim collapses. → Prior Rights: What a Scottish Widow Gets Before Anyone Else Prior rights give a Scottish widow the house, the furnishings and a cash sum, each capped. What comes next, and where a widow still ends up short. → Probate Granted Weeks Ago and the Bank Still Hasn't Paid The grant is sealed, the forms are in, and the account is still frozen. Typical release times, the chasing route that works, and when to escalate. → Probate in Northern Ireland Runs on Its Own Rules Northern Ireland has its own probate office, forms and small estates route. Where an application goes, and which gov.uk guidance does not apply here. → Redirecting an Inheritance Within Two Years of the Death A variation within two years can pass what you inherit to your children. The conditions HMRC insists on, and the cases where redirecting backfires. → The Residence Nil-Rate Band When the Home Goes to a Stepchild Stepchildren, adopted, fostered and guardianship children are treated differently for the extra property allowance. Check which conditions yours meets. → Service Charge and Ground Rent on a Flat Stuck in Probate Leasehold bills keep arriving while the estate is frozen, and arrears risk forfeiture. Who is liable, who funds them, and how to hold the freeholder off. → Share Certificates in a Drawer and No Grant of Probate Yet Paper certificates are handled by registrars, not the bank. The small-holding limits that skip a grant, and what to do with an unbankable dividend cheque. → Six Months From the Grant to Bring an Inheritance Act Claim The clock runs from the grant, not the death. Who counts as a dependant or cohabitee, how the six months work, and why executors should hold distribution. → Small Estate Confirmation in Scotland and the Sheriff Clerk Sheriff clerks help families through a small estate confirmation, a service England has no version of. Who qualifies, and the fees it saves a family. → Tenants in Common: His Half Went to His Children, Not Me A share held in common passes by will or intestacy, never to the survivor. Who you could end up co-owning with, and what a life interest trust changes. → The 30-Day Rule That Leaves a Probate House Uninsured Buildings cover changes once a home stands empty. What stops at about 30 days unoccupied, who has to tell the insurer, and how to keep the house protected. → The Buyer Walked Because the Grant Took Too Long Losing a buyer mid-probate costs re-marketing, a softer second price and more empty-property months. Here is the tally, and how to keep buyers waiting. → The Care Home Invoiced the Estate Three Weeks After Mum Died Final invoices often arrive after the funeral. Check the notice period in the contract, where the debt ranks among creditors, and what is left over. → The DWP Wants a Pension Overpayment Back From the Estate Overpaid benefits surface once the DWP is told of a death. How recovery from an estate works, and the checks to run before you pay any beneficiary a penny. → The Estate Earns Interest — and HMRC Wants Tax on It Interest, dividends and rent earned after a death are taxable. The informal route for small sums, the R185 beneficiaries need, and what delay costs. → The House Sold for £40,000 Less Than the Probate Value Selling below the probate figure can bring inheritance tax back. The four-year window, who makes the claim, and the conditions that quietly rule it out. → The House Was in His Name and We Never Married No survivorship, no intestacy share, no statutory legacy: a cohabitee's only route is an Inheritance Act claim. What it involves, and how long. → The Two-Month Notice Executors Skip and Later Pay For The statutory notice buys an executor two months of protection. If you have already paid the beneficiaries and a bill lands, what remains open to you. → Three Estate Agent Valuations Is Not a Probate Valuation A marketing appraisal is not a valuation HMRC accepts. When a RICS report is needed, what brings in the District Valuer, and the CGT base it sets. → Unmarried Partners Get No Spouse Exemption From Inheritance Tax Married couples pass everything between them tax-free; cohabiting couples do not. The cash difference on one identical estate, and the lost allowance. → When the Estate Owes More Than It Owns: Who Gets Paid First When the debts outrun the assets, a fixed order of payment applies. Where the funeral bill sits, who gets nothing, and what a relative can recover. → Who Pays the Gas and Electric Between Death and Probate? Standing charges belong to the estate; a visiting relative's usage may not. How to split them, and get the supply into the estate's name without a grant. → Why a Life Payout Can Be Taxed at 40% and How Trusts Stop It The same payout is taxed one way inside the estate and another in trust. Compare both on identical numbers, and on how soon the family sees the money. → Why the Probate Registry Stopped Your Application Stops nearly always come from a handful of paperwork faults. Match yours to the fix, and see what a stop adds against a case that goes straight through. → You Can Market a Probate House — You Just Can't Complete Marketing, offers and exchange sit on one side of the line; completion on the other. How far a sale can travel pre-grant, and what to tell the buyer. → Your Executor Inherits the Shares, Not the Job An executor holds a director's shares but takes none of the authority. What the articles force them to do, and how the company keeps trading meanwhile. → £322,000 First, Then Half: Intestacy in a Second Marriage The widow takes the statutory legacy and half the rest before children see anything. Worked through on an estate whose only asset is the house. → £526 Before You See a Penny: The Probate Fee Nobody Budgets The application fee, sealed copies, certificates and valuations all fall due while the money is frozen. Who funds them, and how the cost comes back. →