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IHT400 form, inheritance tax, website issues & tax question

4 replies

Anonymouse2019 · 16/01/2026 20:48

Hi,

My son died soon after birth. We have a legal claim against the Trust where he was born (can't share details, sorry) and as part of the process we've had to complete the PA1A and IHT205 forms. My son had no estate or assets. Nothing at all.

The legal claim is covered by the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, so we were instructed to further complete the IHT400 form in relation to Statutory Berevement Damages which we have NOT been granted, nor do we know yet whether it will be (it depends on whether the legal claim is successful if I understand it correctly).

I have three questions relating to this.

I have received a letter from HMRC saying they've received the IHT400 form and that I can now apply for the grant. It asks me to fo it online at gov.uk and search for 'apply for probate'. It gives a unique code to enter to access the existing claim. I've done that, but it sends me in an endless loop. The options are to either start a new claim or continue with an existing claim. The latter takes me in a loop to the same page. I've tried to find alternative routes to access the existing claim to no avail. Does anyone how how to bypass this?

Secondly, my son's surname as well as my own are both spelt incorrectly on this letter. Will it matter?

Lastly, does anyone know if Statutory Berevement Damages are taxable, in particular if they are in relation to the death of a child? I suspect the age of the deceased won't make a difference in tax terms but thought I'd ask.

Thank you

OP posts:
Anonymouse2019 · 16/01/2026 20:55

Apologies. When I said "I've done that", I meant gone to the Gov.uk site and entered 'apply for probate'. I haven't entered the code provided on the letter as I'm not able to get that far due to the page getting stuck in a loop.

OP posts:
NotAFabergeEgg · 16/01/2026 20:59

This looping rings a bell for me, I had the same infuriating rigmarole for what seemed like weeks. In the end the only workaround they suggested that I could manage was to ask for a paper copy to be posted to me and I did it the old fashioned way.
I'm so sorry for your loss.

Anonymouse2019 · 16/01/2026 21:20

NotAFabergeEgg · 16/01/2026 20:59

This looping rings a bell for me, I had the same infuriating rigmarole for what seemed like weeks. In the end the only workaround they suggested that I could manage was to ask for a paper copy to be posted to me and I did it the old fashioned way.
I'm so sorry for your loss.

Thank you for your reply, and I'm sorry you've been through this rigmarole too. I'm surprised they haven't done anything to fix this issue as clearly they're aware of it. Absolutely infuriating!

OP posts:
Anonymouse2019 · 16/01/2026 21:26

EDIT: Please ignore the link I shared (now deleted), it's for probate practitioners

OP posts:
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