will in foreign country

by **georgers** on Fri Aug 05, 2011 11:16 pm

Hi, my grandparents passed away recently and they have a will which was made in india when they used to reside there. they did not make a UK will.
the questions i have are:

what is required to be reported in the UK with regard to reporting this inheritance to the authorities?
what forms need to be filled out and what taxes need to be paid if any?
is there any double taxation agreement between india and uk if the estate was greater than £650k and tax was due?

they were born in india but resident in uk for 17 years.
the persons inheriting the estate are uk resident.
estate value is approx £600k
i think the estate is mostly cash in bank

by **maths** on Sat Aug 06, 2011 1:19 pm

This can be a complex area and you may be wise to take professional advice.

I understand there are no death duties in India; however, of course, IHT is relevant in the UK.

If the aggregate estate of both gparents is below £650K and the main asset is cash in a UK bank it is likely that no UK IHT will be due. This is based on the assumption that the first to die left everything to the survivor.

Assuming the above to be correct, no UK IHT is due but it is necessary to lodge relevant forms with HMRC and the probate registry.

There is an IHT agreement between UK and India but is basically irrelevant if my assumptions are correct. If my assumptions are not correct then it may be necessary to ascertain the gparents' respective domicile status.

by **georgers** on Sat Aug 06, 2011 2:07 pm

thanks for your reply lets assume they were both deemed domicile, i dont think there is need to argue otherwise since the estate is worth less than £650k.
the bank accounts are in india not in the UK. does that make any difference?
what forms need to be filled in for hmrc and what is the probate registry. scottish laws will apply not english

by **maths** on Mon Aug 08, 2011 4:52 pm

the bank accounts are in india not in the UK. does that make any difference?

Yes it could.

The concept of "deemed domicile" in the UK for IHT purposes is not relevant when looking at the UK/INdia agreement.

Thus, if under Indian domestic law you are Indian domiciled and under UK domestic law you are not UK domiciled (under common law) then on death the cash in India is not subject to IHT.

However, as my earlier post indicated, with an estate of £650K even if both are UK domiciled (and not Indian domiciled) no UK IHT may be payable depending upon the wills.

by **bella10388** on Sat Sep 10, 2011 1:55 am

georgers wrote:Hi, my grandparents passed away recently and they have a will which was made in india when they used to reside there. they did not make a UK will.
the questions i have are:

what is required to be reported in the UK with regard to reporting this inheritance to the authorities?
what forms need to be filled out and what taxes need to be paid if any?
is there any double taxation agreement between india and uk if the estate was greater than £650k and tax was due?

they were born in india but resident in uk for 17 years.
the persons inheriting the estate are uk resident.
estate value is approx £600k
i think the estate is mostly cash in bank

I also think so.

by **bella10388** on Sat Sep 10, 2011 1:57 am

georgers wrote:Hi, my grandparents passed away recently and they have a will which was made in india when they used to reside there. they did not make a UK will.
the questions i have are:

what is required to be reported in the UK with regard to reporting this inheritance to the authorities?
what forms need to be filled out and what taxes need to be paid if any?
is there any double taxation agreement between india and uk if the estate was greater than £650k and tax was due?

they were born in india but resident in uk for 17 years.
the persons inheriting the estate are uk resident.
estate value is approx £600k
i think the estate is mostly cash in bank

I also think so.