Probate Helpline & Inheritance Tax Helplines

IHT Helpline, Probate Helpline or Probate Forms.

1) HMRC Probate Helpline, Forms and Inheritance Tax Helpline.

 

Good news and bad news: Helpline times are now firmly 9-5 Monday to Friday except bank holidays, assuming you can get through! EXCEPT for the Probate Registry, which is just 9 to 1 until late May 2024 “to help clear the backlog.” See Probate Delays.If you were looking to save on probate fees, you are on the wrong page – this one is about getting Probate Forms, chasing Probate or contacting the HMRC Helpline.The (possibly) good news is that they have taken up my suggestion of having a dedicated line JUST to request FORMS, which is an answerphone, so you can leave a request for forms at any time on 0117 930 2430  but they do ask you to specify which form you want or to call the HMRC & Forms helpline 0300 123 1072 which will probably be engaged or closed. That line is operated by the Taxman, not the Registry. So maybe just ask for an IHT Probate Pack or a non-IHT Probate Pack.  Let me know how you get on!The Taxman only processes the Inheritance Tax papers, but they do offer widows/ widowers and personal representatives a point of contact for supplying the relevant forms.  HMRC are keen that you pay your dues to HM Revenue and Customs. For those who accept that they need professional help, but are not quite sure where to go, that is where we come in: we can offer general guidance (03 300 102 300), and where needed, put you in touch with probate firms of proven reliability and sensible fees.

The phone numbers above are not the contact for probate chases – see below.

So, if you are looking for a Probate Registry Helpline, we have two suggestions.a) Contact us with basic details of your situation, and we can normally point you in the right direction – we offer free guidance, not advice.  We will have a very quick chat free to see if paying for professional advice is worth your while.  If you have an IHT liability, this should be urgent as the deadline to pay the IHT bill will arrive long before probate is granted, as the payment must be settled before you can even apply!  (See current probate delays) Obviously, the HMRC helpline won’t help you to save tax!b) If you are more interested in simple strategies that can be easily implemented, often without professional help, check out the link under “Useful Sites.”

But back to the HMRC IHT etc Helpline.  HMRC can also send leaflets and forms by post. But downloading probate forms is far quicker.

Probate Quotes                    Probate Disputes

2) Opening hours HMRC Inheritance Tax & Probate helpline 0300 123 1072.

The Probate and Inheritance Tax helpline is open from Monday to Friday 9 – 5. You can order forms and leaflets on this number, or ask a helpline advisor questions about Inheritance Tax, or which forms you need and why.   But don’t expect any tax planning advice – contact us if you need to speak to an expert Inheritance Tax Planning advice – though we can often give suitable general guidance as what is complex to you isn’t necessarily to us.HMRC staff advise on IHT, though not on tax planning. They will deal with basic probate matters, or refer you back to your professional adviser or (if you prefer) us. As stated, we can offer general probate or IHT guidance, and refer you on for economical professional advice if necessary.The HMRC helpline offers general advice and information about Probate and Inheritance Tax following a death, including:

• understanding your Inheritance Tax responsibilities
• confirming the forms you need.
• getting paper copies of forms
• completing Inheritance Tax forms

HMRC Inheritance Tax helpline address: Ferrers House Castle Meadow Road Nottingham NG2 1BB.

2a) Forms only orderline 0117 930 2430

As I understand it, this is just an answer machine – I tried it and it got very confused, so maybe there are real people available.

3) The Probate helpline of the Registry-

as at 29/1/24 DO NOT CHASE WITHIN 16 WEEKS OF SUBMISSION.

is 0300 303 0648 but waiting times to get through can be quite extreme – an hour plus is quite usual, and many calls are cut off. The email address is contactprobate@justice.gov.uk. It and the online help, now on reduced hours, are open from Monday to Friday, 9-5 normally but 9 – 1 until the end of May 2024, apart from bank holidays. There is no specific address as the work of probate is carried out in many offices in England and Wales, based on capacity and not geography.  No doubt many of the old Regional Probate Registries are still being used, but only as public offices by invitation, so phone, email and online are your options, unless a letter gives you a specific address or phone number.You should be prepared to give the case number if known, or the full name and date of death.   If you are not the executor, they cannot give you any information, and if you have a solicitor acting for you, they may refer you to the solicitor, which is both unhelpful and expensive.They will only deal with the executors, so any beneficiaries calling them are only slowing down the process by tying up staff on pointless calls. If there may be a dispute then check out our relevant page.There is (allegedly) an online chat form probate helpline service, but you will need the case reference and the necessary authority – i.e. be the executor or solicitor dealing with the case. 

Email addresses for Probate Registries CLICK.

Unless you know which specific Registry is dealing with your case (and it is random), just use the main one, contactprobate@justice.gov.uk – doing otherwise will slow things down.  .