the estate is a low value estate since it is below the inheritance tax threshold.

(the applicable inheritance tax threshold is £285,000)

fill in 01print_pa1_e0107.pdf notes to help

02notes_pa1a_e0107[notestofillin_pa1_e0107].pdf

fill in 03print_iht205-2006-1.pdf notes to help 04notes_iht206-2006-1[notestofillin_iht205].pdf

to find out whether the deceased's estate can qualify as an 'excepted estate' you will need to fill in
form iht205. to help you to decide ‘is it an excepted estate?’ you can view the information in the
customer guide.

hmrc inheritance tax: applying for probate or confirmation

to be able to get access to the assets in the deceased's estate, you normally need to get a grant
of representation. in england, wales and northern ireland, the two most common types of grant
are

* a grant of probate, where the deceased has left a will, and

* a grant of letters of administration, where the deceased has not left a will.

in scotland, the grant is a grant of confirmation.

you can find more information about grants of representation and whether one is needed for the
estate you are dealing with, in our customer guide in the section: what is a grant of
probate/confirmation and how do i get one?

the present inheritance tax threshold is £285,000

(for a death between 6 april 2005 and 5 april 2006 the threshold was £275,000). very broadly, if
the net value of the assets owned by deceased, together with

* their share of any assets owned jointly,

* any assets held in trust from which they had the right to benefit,
* any assets they had given away in the 7 years before they died, and
* any assets which they had given to someone else, but in which they retained an interest or
benefit

does not exceed this figure, there should be no inheritance tax to pay as a result of the death.
where the tax threshold is exceeded, you will have to pay at least some of the inheritance tax that
is due before you can get a grant.

if the deceased's estate meets certain conditions, you will be able to get a grant by providing only
basic information. we call such an estate an 'excepted estate'. most estates in the uk (over 80%)
qualify as an 'excepted estate'. there is no inheritance tax to pay on an estate that qualifies as an
'excepted estate'
for deaths on or after 6 april 2004, form c5 will help you to decide whether the deceased's estate
can qualify as an 'excepted estate'.
if it does, you will only need to fill in the inventory(c1) and form c5

low value estates

a type of excepted estate where there can be no liability to inheritance tax because the total value
of the estate, including the deceased's share of jointly owned assets, any specified transfers and
specified exempt transfers, does not exceed the inheritance tax threshold. see the customer
guide to iht for information on the correct threshold to use.

inheritance tax threshold

the inheritance tax threshold is the amount above which inheritance tax becomes payable. if the
estate, including any assets held in trust and gifts made within seven years of death, is less than
the threshold, no inheritance tax will be due on it. details of the threshold can be found on the
thresholds and interest page.

what is the threshold for an excepted estate?

for an excepted estate, the inheritance tax (iht) threshold means the amount above which iht is
payable. if the death was between 6 august and 5 april in any one tax year, you should use the
threshold that applied at the date of death.

if the deceased died after 5 april but before 6 august in any one tax year and the grant of
representation is applied for before 6 august of that year, the threshold which applies for an
excepted estate is the one from the tax year before that in which the deceased died.

examples:

joan brown died on 9 may 2004 and the grant was taken out on 21 july 2004.
the correct threshold to use was £255,000.

david smith died on 7 june 2004 and the grant was taken out on 21 august 2004.
the correct threshold to use was £263,000.

hmrc inheritance tax: customer guide

what is the nil-rate band for inheritance tax?
the inheritance nil-rate band is the amount of the estate on which there is no inheritance tax to
pay. if the estate, including any assets held in trust and gifts made within seven years of death, is
less than the nil-rate band, no inheritance tax will be due on it.

the table below shows the different nil-rate bands in use for deaths between 15 march 1998 and
the present date.
from to nil-rate band
15.03.1988 05.04.1989 £110,000
06.04.1989 05.04.1990 £118,000
06.04.1990 05.04.1991 £128,000
06.04.1991 05.04.1992 £140,000
10.03.1992 05.04.1995 £150,000
06.04.1995 05.04.1996 £154,000
06.04.1996 05.04.1997 £200,000
06.04.1997 05.04.1998 £215,000
06.04.1998 05.04.1999 £223,000
06.04.1999 05.04.2000 £231,000
06.04.2000 05.04.2001 £234,000
06.04.2001 05.04.2002 £242,000
06.04.2002 05.04.2003 £250,000
06.04.2003 05.04.2004 £255,000
06.04.2004 05.04.2005 £263,000
06.04.2005 05.04.2006 £275,000
06.04.2006 05.04.2007 £285,000
06.04.2007 - £300,000

for transfers on death, the value of an estate above the nil-rate band is taxed at the rate of 40%.
for lifetime transfers the rate is 20%.

what is the excepted estate limit?

for an estate to qualify as an excepted estate, the value of that estate must be below the
excepted estate limit. other rules also apply and you can read more on excepted estates for
deaths after 5 april 2004 in our customer guide.

the table below gives the excepted estate limits for deaths from 1 april 1987 to the present date.
from to limit
01.04.1987 31.03.1989 £70,000
01.04.1989 31.03.1990 £100,000
01.04.1990 31.03.1991 £115,000
01.04.1991 05.04.1995 £125,000
06.04.1995 05.04.1996 £145,000
06.04.1996 05.04.1998 £180,000
06.04.1998 05.04.2000 £200,000
06.04.2000 05.04.2002 £210,000
06.04.2002 05.04.2003 £220,000
06.04.2003 05.04.2004 £240,000
06.04.2004 present iht threshold*

* if the death is after 5 april but before 6 august in any one tax year and the grant of
representation is applied for before 6 august that year, the threshold which applies for an
excepted estate is the one from the tax year before that in which the deceased dies.

if the death is between 6 august and 5 april in any one tax year, the threshold to use for an
excepted estate is the iht threshold that applies at the date of death.

what is the due date for the payment of the inheritance tax?
inheritance tax is due six months after the end of the month in which the death occurred. we call
this the due date. interest begins to be payable from the day after the due date if the tax has not
been paid.

the table below shows the due dates for inheritance tax and also the date that interest starts.
month of death due date interest starts from
january 31 july 1 august
february 31 august 1 september
march 30 september 1 october
april 31 october 1 november
may 30 november 1 december
june 31 december 1 january
july 31 january 1 february
august 28/29 february 1 march
september 31 march 1 april
october 30 april 1 may
november 31 may 1 june
december 30 june 1 july

what is the interest rate for inheritance tax?

the interest rate is the same for both late payments of inheritance tax and over payments. so, the
interest charged on a late payment is the same as the interest added by us to a repayment of
over paid tax. the table below show the rates of interest from 6 october 1994 to the present date.

you can find more on interest in our customer guide.

interest period no of days interest rate
6.10.94 to 5.03.99 1612 5%
6.03.99 to 5.02.00 337 4%
6.02.00 to 5.05.01 455 5%
6.05.01 to 5.11.01 184 4%
6.11.01 to 5.08.03 638 3%
6.08.03 to 5.12.03 122 2%
6.12.03 to 5.09.04 275 3%
6.09.04 to 5.09.05 365 4%
6.09.05 to 3%

exempt estate
a type of excepted estate where the gross value of the estate does not exceed £1,000,000 and
there can be no liability to inheritance tax because spouse or civil partner exemption or charity
exemption bring the estate below the inheritance tax threshold. some restrictions apply to this and
further details can be found in the customer guide.

exempt gifts
gifts that are exempt from inheritance tax. these include
* gifts to individuals more than seven years before death. see potentially exempt transfers
* gifts to spouses or civil partners
* gifts not exceeding £3,000 in any one tax year. see annual exemption
* gifts on consideration of marriage or civil partnership
* gifts to uk charities
* gifts for national purposes
* small gifts
* gifts which are normal expenditure out of income

n205d notice of issue(probate claim) (pdf 26kb)

n205d_1001.pdf
pa1 how to obtain probate - application form (pdf 372kb) pa1_e0107.pdf
pa1a guidance notes for probate application form pa1 (pdf 49kb) pa1a_e0107.pdf
pa1s application for probate search (pdf 338kb) pa1s_0405.pdf

http://www.theprobateservice.gov.uk

hmrc inheritance tax : applying for confirmation scotland

fill in c1_comp_lined.pdf
and c5(2006)_2.pdf notes to help c3(2006)_2.pdf