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HMRC have announced changes to the probate application process, which has taken effect as of 17th January 2024.
Our Wills, Trusts, and Probate team explore what the issues were with the previous probate application process and what the new process entails.
What was the previous probate application process?
Prior to this date, the process for personal representatives applying for probate (where you need to submit an Inheritance Tax form known as the IHT400) required HMRC to send a stamped IHT421 form (the Probate Summary) to the probate registry to allow the application for probate to proceed.
When the personal representatives sent the IHT400 and IHT421 to HMRC, they then had to wait until the probate registry had received the stamped IHT421 before submitting their application for probate, which was usually 20 working days.
This process was causing delays, for example where an applicant prematurely submitted the probate application to the probate registry before HMRC had sent the stamped IHT421 (and not waiting the recommended 20 working days), causing the probate registry to stop the application.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has estimated that 9000 “stops” in 2022 were due to IHT400 forms being submitted incorrectly.
HMCTS has stated that it can take more than double the amount of administrative time to issue a grant once the application has been stopped.
When applications are stopped, they are moved to a separate queue for processing whilst the relevant information or documents are awaited.
