HMRC are advising people not to submit their grant of probate or administration too early, otherwise they will be met with subsequent delays due to an issue with matching up IHT400 and IHT421 forms.
The delays have come about as a result of HMRC changing the way they process IHT421 forms. They no longer print, stamp and return the form to the customer. The new process sees a copy of the form being emailed to HMCTS with the customer being notified once it has been sent there.
The sticking point occurs when the HMCTS Probate Service has to match the IHT421 from HMRC with the probate applications from the customer. If probate forms are submitted too early, then the matching up process doesn’t happen.
It is now advised that customers wait 20 working days from the date of submitting the IHT400 form before applying for the grant. This will enable HMRC to have 15 days to process the IHT400 and distribute the IHT421.
One Response
Would it not help if the HM CTS reference number which is established once we start the probate online application were to be added to the IHT 421 which we submitted to HMRC?