CAT liabilities under will when delay in probate

I asked my solicitor to lodge the papers in the Probate court shortly after my parent died and he did not. This has caused a huge delay, obviously. There is only one asset under the will- the family home. When is the property valued for inheritance tax purposes to be submitted on the self assessment with Rev? Is it date of death (an estate agent gave a written valuation shortly after date of death) or is it the date the grant of probate issues?
The house is not being sold outside the family; it is being sold to one of the 2 beneficiaries for the value outlined in the valuation provided shortly after the death.
The Revenue website appears to say 2 different things:
1. Date of death: This is from Revenue website CAT valuation guide

"The valuation date is the date on which the market value of the property comprising the gift/inheritance is established.
In the case of a Gift, the Valuation Date is normally the date of the gift.
In the case of an Inheritance, the Valuation Date is normally the earliest of the following dates:

• the date the subject matter of the inheritance can be retained for the benefit of the beneficiary;
• the date it is actually retained for the benefit of the beneficiary;
• the date it is transferred or paid over to the beneficiary."

2. Date of grant of probate:
This is from Revenu leaflet IT41,part 3

"The valuation date is the date at which the assets are valued for Inheritance Tax purposes. The valuation date for assets passing under the will or intestacy is usually the date on which the Grant of Representation issues from the Probate Office or District Probate Registry. If assets are passing outside of the will or intestacy, the valuation date will normally be the deceased person's date of death."

Can anyone please clarify. Of course if the solicitors delay ends up costing us money in a rising property market then it's his fault!!

In cacluating inheritance tax have you allowed for the Group Threshold? From memory (and please check this) the parent->child threshold is €225k. That means the family home would have to be valued over €550k for either of you to pay inheritance tax.

Of course! That's not the issue. ..well, it sort of could be. We were under the threshold and now I don't know if we still are. I basically need to know if a new valuation will be required to file the it38. If the value has now gone over the threshold because of the solicitor inaction, I'll be furious.

OK, I'm still curious as to why your Solicitor didn't complete the CA24? When did your father pass away? When was probate granted? What may seem like a long delay to you could be absolutely standard; a year is not unusual.

Who said it was my father ;-)

The solicitor didn't do it because of laziness/incompetence...it's hard to tell why. I asked for it to be done back as far as last late Spring, and repeatedly emailed/spoke to them about it over the course of last year, where I was reassured that it was being taken care of, when in fact no papers were ever lodged with the Probate office at all. Probate has not been granted as the papers have not been processed at all. I thought the delay was with the probate office but it was with my solicitor.

Who said it was my father

Click to expand...

Well it was a 50/50 shot...

Back to the question - is the Soltr the only executor named in the wil?

No, he was appointed to administer the estate by the joint executors, who are also the joint beneficiaries under the will.

Then all the executors need to do is take back the file and apply for probate themselves.

Done!
The questions still remains however: do we need to seek a new valuation for the purposes of filing the IT38? If so, is the (new) valuation based on the date of grant of probate, or on the date of death? Would it make any difference if the beneficiary/ies were living in the house at the time. Or can we file based on the original paperwork?
T.I.A.

Bit confused by yr post.

You've got the file back I take it? Have you completed the CA24 affidavit and posted it and all other required docs to probate office?

Do you have a reply back from probate office?

Everything has gone into the probate. The question that no one seems to be able to answer -not solicitors, nor tax consultant, no one is whether when we are required to file our tax return -the IT 38 -is whether we will require a new valuation of the assets after the grant of probate.

Revenue gives the following example of valuation dates, if this is of any help:

Example 1

Valuation Date of an inheritance taken under a Will

Mr. O’Toole in his will left the following property absolutely:

a. his house to his sister, Anne, who was residing with him;

b. €50,000 pecuniary legacy, to his nephew, Brendan;

c. the residue of his estate, consisting of quoted shares and bank accounts, to his brother Charles.

The Valuation Date for each inheritance would normally be –

• the date of death in respect of the house (Anne is living in house already);

• the date of grant of probate in respect of the pecuniary legacy (if the legacy was paid to Brendan prior to that date, the date of payment would be the valuation date);

• the date of grant of probate in respect of the residue.

In the simplest terms date for payment of inheritance tax will depend on when you get your grant of probate.

Not sure if you are in dublin or not but you could be waiting 4 or 5 months for appointment.

So at a guess, lets say you get probate in Feb 2016. Inheritance tax therefore has to be paid by 31st october 2016.