Wills and estates - don't dabble

Posted on: 02/01/2024

Category: For you

The recent case of Harris –v– HMRC [2018] is a clear reminder of the dangers of a person dealing with legal issues without the relevant expertise or guidance from a qualified lawyer.

This particular case relates to the administration of an estate, where the Personal Representative dealt with the administration of a complex estate himself, in which Inheritance Tax was payable. The Personal Representative had passed all the estate funds to one of the beneficiaries on the understanding that they would clear all the outstanding bills but unfortunately they did not settle the Inheritance Tax. HM Revenue & Customs demanded the Inheritance Tax from the Personal Representative because a Personal Representative is liable for all Inheritance Tax payable on a deceased’s estate.

He of course had given the money away and therefore had no control over it and therefore could not pay the tax.

This is a prime example of ‘dabbling’ in a matter without full knowledge or expertise and could have been avoided if legal advice had been taken.

The availability of information online and development of IT does allow us to undertake many more matters ourselves than maybe would have done so in the past, but we should always be careful that the appropriate advice is taken when stepping into unknown territories.