Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department has issued to HMRC on the treatment of probate applications that are unable to be submitted within the statutory six month period as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

There are no statutory deadlines for making probate applications, therefore the Department has issued no guidance to HMRC as it would not be appropriate.

Completing inheritance tax assessment and payment is a necessary part of the process for applying for probate. While HMRC determine the policy on deadlines for inheritance tax calculation and payment in line with that legal framework, they will consider it to be within the scope of a reasonable excuse and grounds for appeal against any late filing penalties should a customer be unable to file their Inheritance tax return on time because of impacts from COVID-19.