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We've just had a look at the forms and it looks like complete gobbledygook.
Can Joe Blow calmly work their way through them or is it just best to hand it over to people who know what they're doing?
The fact that you're even thinking about IHT implies that there is enough money in the estate to pay a professional to look after this. Based on my experience over the past couple of years I would suggest that that is what you do.
I did my dads (*Scotlandshire) but very straightforward (house, bank accounts, savings, life assurance).
it was tedious, irritating, required some online searching/checking but doable and I got it all accepted.
Ditto, did my dad's & all very straightforward, just have to sit down & read it all through properly along with HMRC guides. I could probably have done my friends which was somewhat more complicated but needed to keep it at arms length, in the end I'm pretty sure I could have done a much better job than using the solicitors who had prepared his will for him... one lives & learns.
I would get a pro to submit it but do all the legwork yourself.
If there's iht due you will arouse scrutiny on house value if not sold on open market, so get a rics valuation. Shares, cash etc valuations are easy.
Also, you can retrospectively claim the 3k pa gift allowance, no idea how far back though.
It was about 4 years ago that I did one. I found it straightforward but then I'm used to doing my own tax returns and self-employed carpentry accounts.
And it's not just millionaires estates it's needed for in case anybody thinks so. This one was quite away under the IHT threshold but still had to be done.
If you have the time and patience you can save a lot of money doing it yourself but even for a modest estate without complicated finances it can be a headache and drag on for months.
A few things I've learnt from getting my friends estate sorted, that might be useful knowledge:-
Don't be afraid to call Bereavement Services arm of HMRC - no long waiting on the line & saved me the bother of SA900 tax returns.
Everything starts from date of death, so all values must be calculated from that date.
If selling a property and the selling price is more than the valuation at dod - then capital gains tax may be due.
If the estate earns any income above £500pa (interest on bank accounts, income from property etc) then that is taxable at 20% - an estate does not have a "personal allowance" We even have to pay tax on the interest earned on a delayed repayment from HMRC as his house sold for £50k less than valuation & HMRC took ages to sort it all out.
Good luck with it all, I'm 2.5yrs into it & period of administration has just come to an end, waiting to hear from HMRC how much tax we need to pay on estate income in that time & expect another 9 months before pensions ombudsman rules on my friends pension, but that's an altogether other matter ..
If you're thinking about IHT you're probably talking about an estate close to a million, maybe well over. I think getting a professional in is good advice and their charges will be a tiny fraction of the windfall you are about to receive, they may well save more than they cost.
We have (well my wife has) done multiple annual tax returns over several years for ourselves and elderly parents and additionally those of a VAT-registered business, but FiL's estate taxes is still in the hands of a lawyer and accountant. TBH that was mostly just because my wife didn't need the added hassle along with all the other stuff she has going on, but it certainly seems money well spent.
Not that it makes the process effortless, you still have to chase them to actually do any work in a timely manner!