Dealing with someone's estate after their death
How you deal with someone's estate – their money, property and possessions – after they die depends on whether they...
A grant of probate gives you the legal right to deal with someone's estate. If you need a grant of probate, you'll need to apply for it online or by post.
If you're the executor of someone's estate, you'll need to apply for a grant of probate to give you the legal right to deal with their estate.
Find out more about what executors do
You may not need a grant of probate for a smaller estate (usually less than £5,000). In this case, write to the deceased person's bank, building society or whoever's holding the money and ask whether they'll make a payment to you without receiving a grant of probate.
You can either apply for a grant of probate by post or online.
You can apply for a grant of probate online on GOV.UK. You can pay online and you'll need to send a copy of the will separately. You'll be asked how many copies of the grant you need.
If you're the executor, you'll need to value the estate of the person who's died.
Start with everything that they owned at the time of their death. This includes property, possessions and money, minus any debts they owed, such as a mortgage, loans and bills. The estate may also include assets held jointly with others.
For assets such as property or land, you should get a professional valuation.
HMRC recommends having items worth more than £500 valued professionally.
Before you report the value of the estate, check if you need to send details of the estate so that you can complete the correct forms if necessary. Some estates don't need to be reported for Inheritance Tax (IHT).
There’s no IHT to pay on estates left entirely to a spouse, civil partner or charity.
Find out more about valuing an estate for Inheritance Tax on GOV.UK
IHT may have to be paid on the estate if it's worth more than the tax-free threshold of £325,000. If a house the deceased lived in before dying is left to their children or grandchildren, the threshold increases to £500,000. After that, IHT is payable at 40%.
If one partner dies and hasn’t used their tax-free allowance, this can be passed on to the surviving partner, giving them a higher threshold of up to £1,000,000 before IHT applies
If there could be IHT to pay, get a professional valuation on high-value items such as a house or stock market investments, as you'll need to give HMRC a detailed account along with valuations.
If the valuations aren't accurate, you may have to pay penalties.
You can download an IHT form online on GOV.UK or you can order a form by calling the Probate and Inheritance Tax helpline on 0300 123 1072.
These are the main tasks involved in distributing the estate:
We offer support through our free advice line on 0800 678 1602. Lines are open 8am-7pm, 365 days a year. We also have specialist advisers at over 120 local Age UKs.
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