Families often face inheritance tax late payment charges for failings at banks and other financial institutions. Laura Walkley, Partner and Head of the Private Client team at TWM Solicitors, has shared her thoughts.
Obtaining information from banks and other financial institutions can be very slow. It can take months and significant chasing to receive paperwork and information that should be straightforward to provide. This delays the whole process.
This means families may be unable to accurately complete their inheritance tax returns and pay the tax due within the deadline of six months from death, meaning they can face interest charges for the late payment, even when that’s no fault of theirs.
To complete inheritance tax returns and apply for probate, families need clear information on the value of assets when their loved one passed away. Too often, they are left waiting weeks or even months for financial institutions to provide these figures.
That’s clearly very distressing for the families concerned, and can be costly too.
