by johnireland | Articles
Most families dealing with a death assume that if there’s no Inheritance Tax to pay, there’s nothing much to file. For estates worth roughly £325,000 to £1 million, that assumption has been broadly true since the excepted estate rules changed in January...
by johnireland | Tax Talk
HMRC has started sending agents an educational letter about the “excepted estate” shortcut for probate — the route that lets many non-taxpaying estates skip a full Inheritance Tax account (IHT400). The letters target applications filed at or near £325,000,...
by johnireland | Articles
Two High Court decisions handed down within a few months of each other have sent a clear signal to anyone thinking about challenging a Will: if you wait too long, the court may refuse to hear you at all, however strong your case might once have been. The lead...
by johnireland | Legal Spotlight
Two 2025/2026 High Court cases — Stephenson v Daley and Bowerman v Bowerman — confirm that waiting too long to challenge a Will can be fatal to the claim, even where the underlying argument might otherwise have some merit. In Stephenson v Daley, sons who challenged...
by johnireland | Legal Spotlight
Estates used to be found in a filing cabinet. A great deal of the modern estate exists only as a login, protected by security designed to keep everyone out — including the Executor who is legally entitled to deal with it. Digital assets fall into four groups. Things...
