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You need an estimate of the estate鈥檚 value (the deceased鈥檚 money, property and possessions), to find out if there鈥檚 Inheritance Tax to pay.

There鈥檚 normally no Inheritance Tax to pay if either:

• the value of the estate is below the 拢325,000 threshold
• you leave everything above the 拢325,000 threshold to your spouse, civil partner, a charity or a community amateur sports club

If the person who died was widowed or is giving away their home to their children, the tax threshold can be higher.

Working out your estimate

You need to estimate the total value of the estate. This includes:

• the value of the things the person owned (their assets) on the day they died
• any gifts they made, such as cash or items of value, in the 7 years before they died
• the value of any trusts where the person had a beneficial interest

Your estimate will help you check if the estate鈥檚 value exceeds the threshold. If it does, you鈥檒l need to provide valuations for the assets to see how much Inheritance Tax is due.

You can work out the estimate yourself or you can use the Inheritance Tax checker.

Check if you need to pay Inheritance Tax

The tool will:

• give you an approximate value of the estate

• help you decide whether any Inheritance Tax is likely to be due or not

The tool does not:

• calculate the amount of Inheritance Tax due

• tell HMRC about the estate鈥檚 final value

Before you start, you鈥檒l need the following information:

• details of the person鈥檚 assets, including joint assets
• details of any gifts they made

Valuing the assets

Start by listing the person鈥檚 assets - things belonging to them with a financial value. Then find out or estimate the value of each on the date the person died.

These may include:

• their home

• any other properties, buildings or land

• money in banks, building societies or ISAs, or cash in their home

• stocks and shares聽

• household and personal items, including antiques, electrical goods, furniture, jewellery, paintings, and stamp collections

• cars, caravans or boats

• foreign assets, such as property abroad

• money they鈥檙e owed, for example, wages or refunds from household bills

• payments when they died, for example, life insurance or a lump sum 鈥榙eath benefit鈥� from a pension

For things like bank accounts, ISAs and pensions, you should contact the relevant organisation to get an exact figure.聽

For items such as cars, jewellery, and paintings, work out how much you would have got if you鈥檇 sold them. You can search for similar items on online marketplaces for this.

Valuing joint assets

You need to find out what assets the person owned with someone else and how they were owned.

The rules for valuing joint assets, such as property, jewellery or paintings, are different depending on whether they were owned as:

• 鈥榡oint tenants鈥� (known as 鈥榡oint owners鈥� in Scotland)
• 鈥榯enants in common鈥� (known as 鈥榗ommon owners鈥� in Scotland)

Joint tenants

Joint tenants automatically pass on any assets, such as land or property, to the other owners if one of them dies.

If the asset, such as land or property, was owned as a joint tenant with the person鈥檚 spouse or civil partner, divide the value of the asset by 2.

If land or property was owned with other joint tenants, for example friends or siblings, do both of the following:

• divide the value by the number of owners
• take 10% from the share of the person who died

In Scotland, if land or property was owned jointly with others (excluding a spouse or civil partner), take 拢4,000 off the value of the whole asset before working out the deceased鈥檚 share.

To value a joint bank account, divide the amount by the number of account holders, unless it鈥檚 in joint names for convenience only. For example, an older person may add their child to help them with the account. If so, use the amount the deceased actually owned instead.

Tenants in common

The rules are different for tenants in common as they do not automatically pass on any assets they jointly own.

If the deceased jointly owned property or land as a tenant in common, work out the value based on their share.

Working out the value of any gifts

You need to work out the value of any gifts made by the person who died.

Gifts only count towards the value of an estate if they were made in the 7 years before the person died and the total value of the gifts was over the 拢3,000 annual exemption.

Any gift a person continued to benefit from before they died also counts towards the value of an estate - for example, if they gave away a house but lived in it rent-free (known as a 鈥榞ift with reservation鈥�).

There鈥檚 no Inheritance Tax to pay on gifts to charities or political parties.

What counts as a gift

A gift can include:

• money
• household and personal goods, for example, furniture, jewellery or antiques
• a house, land or buildings
• stocks and shares listed on the London Stock Exchange
• unlisted shares held for less than 2 years before the person鈥檚 death

Checking for gifts

You can check for gifts by:

• going through bank statements
• talking to family members
• looking through financial documents

Record the value of any gift and the date it was made.

Estimate the gift鈥檚 value

To estimate the value of each gift, use either:

• the approximate value of the gift at the time it was made (realistic selling price)
• the realistic selling price of the gift if the deceased continued to benefit from the gift after giving it away (a 鈥榞ift with reservation鈥�)

Debts

Do not include the estate鈥檚 debts when you estimate the gross value. You will however need to tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) about any debts when you report the value of the estate.

Check for records of debts when the person died, for example:

• their mortgage, loans, credit cards or overdrafts
• 鈥榣iabilities鈥� like household bills or bills for goods or services they鈥檇 received but not yet paid for (like building work, decorators, accountants)

What to do next

Check if you need to send full details of the estate鈥檚 value.