Form IHT205 is a return that is made to HMRC to inform them of the value of an estate where it is below the excepted value or where all of the assets totalling less than £1m are passed to their spouse or a charity. The form is needed where there is no inheritance tax to pay but you still need to obtain a grant of probate and is completed by the executor or administrator of the estate. When can you use...
Estate planning is simply the process of putting in place measures to make sure that your assets go to the people you want them to after your death and to ensure that the people and organisations you care about are provided for and your assets are given to the people you want to benefit. You can also include methods of reducing inheritance taxes payable on death too with sensible use of one or two techniques. And for parents, practical estate planning...
A grant of probate is the formal legal permission for an executor to administer the estate of a deceased person. Theoretically, everyone needs to have permission to deal with estate matters however in practice there are some exceptions. What is probate? There are really two answers to this question and it depends upon whether the deceased left a Will or not. If they did leave a Will then the executor (who will be named in the document) needs to apply for a grant...
What are Survivorship clauses and commorientes? A survivorship clause is a clause that states that a gift will only be made where the beneficiary lives for a certain amount of time after the death of the testator. These types of clauses are very common in modern Wills and it is often the case that when you are thinking about drawing up your own document this will be an issue that arises. These can be used to make sure that assets don’t have...
How to be an executor – step by step guide Becoming an executor of a Will is a serious and legally responsible role and so in this post, we thought we’d give you a guide as the steps the executor needs to take. Being an executor doesn’t need to be complicated but you do need to be organised and following these steps will help when the time comes. When the Will is made When someone asks you to be an executor of their...
How long does probate take? One of the biggest problems with probate is that there really is no set time it should take and it all depends upon the estate in question. In this post, we’ll look at the issues surrounding probate and explain some of the things that delay probate in different circumstances. If you would like to speak to a probate expert, call us free on 08001181603 Need to write a Will? Write your’s on the Smart Will App in 10 minutes...
Is probate needed when a spouse dies? Probate is the legal authority to wind up the affairs of a deceased person and it is generally needed when there are things like bank accounts to close, investments to cash in and property to sell. You’ll often find that financial institutions will ask for proof that probate had been granted before they will allow access to any assets or information that relates to the deceased party. However, it is possible that a formal grant...
