Executor's paperwork - how long to keep?
Ano...@executor.question
executor's records should be kept for at least 12 years - though it
comments that this is not a legal requirement. How long should the
records be kept for an estate which came in well under the IH
thresholds? Is there any advantage in keeping them for longer?
Thanks!
Peter Crosland
news:sbnua5hupufp8drr3...@4ax.com...
Personally I would always keep them for twelve years because up to that time
HMR&C can ask to see them. If they do ask and you don't have them then the
consequences can be severe. I don't see it as too big a hardship to do so
anyway.
Peter Crosland
Big Les Wade
><Ano...@executor.question> wrote in message
>news:sbnua5hupufp8drr3...@4ax.com...
>> The HMRC website suggests, in the Inheritance Tax section, that an
>> executor's records should be kept for at least 12 years - though it
>> comments that this is not a legal requirement. How long should the
>> records be kept for an estate which came in well under the IH
>> thresholds? Is there any advantage in keeping them for longer?
>
>
>Personally I would always keep them for twelve years because up to that time
>HMR&C can ask to see them. If they do ask and you don't have them then the
>consequences can be severe.
Do you know what the legal basis is for this 12 years? Most taxes can
only be collected going back 7 years IIRC.
--
Les
Conspiracy theory: A suspicion that officials sometimes mislead the public in
order to protect their own interests.
R. Mark Clayton
"Big Les Wade" <L...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:akpYiumT...@obviously.invalid...
> Peter Crosland <g6...@yahoo.co.uk> posted
>><Ano...@executor.question> wrote in message
>>news:sbnua5hupufp8drr3...@4ax.com...
>>> The HMRC website suggests, in the Inheritance Tax section, that an
>>> executor's records should be kept for at least 12 years - though it
>>> comments that this is not a legal requirement. How long should the
>>> records be kept for an estate which came in well under the IH
>>> thresholds? Is there any advantage in keeping them for longer?
>>
>>
>>Personally I would always keep them for twelve years because up to that
>>time
>>HMR&C can ask to see them. If they do ask and you don't have them then the
>>consequences can be severe.
>
> Do you know what the legal basis is for this 12 years? Most taxes can only
> be collected going back 7 years IIRC.
>
> --
> Les
Its to do with how long before title in land can be challenged.
For normal dealings and in theory HMRC six [clear] years (= 7 years) should
suffice.
OTOH HMRC can be vindictive and if they get you for something else they can
issue assessments going back decades - so never get rid of it.
PS sometimes it can work the other way. When my gran died in 1973 she owned
a lot of shares in a Rhodesian copper mine - they had even sent her
artefacts made from the output of the mine. By then there were sanctions so
my dad could not realise the shares. Years later when UDI ended my dad had
lost the papers and it was impossible to prove ownership. The copper mine
was exhausted and if the share were converted to bank deposits (likely) then
the staggering inflation in Zimbabwe will have reduced the value to less
than a green shield stamp.
Ano...@executor.question
<snip>
Many thanks for all replies. One more, related question, if I may:
I am presuming that preserving the paperwork is primarily in the
interests of the executor, in case of a claim from HMRC or an angry
beneficiary or a previously unknown claimant upon the will. I can
think of elderly executors who might well not be with us in twelve
years time: does any liability die with them or should the papers then
be transferred into someone else's hands for the remaining period?
Peter Crosland
news:gt91b5h5qjo20u1g3...@4ax.com...
It could be very tricky because a deceased executor may not have kept
complete documentation in the form of working papers.
Peter Crosland
Nick
<Ano...@executor.question> wrote in message
news:sbnua5hupufp8drr3...@4ax.com...
If you have the space, don't get rid of anything.
Otherwise scan all docs and archive them.
I am going through a particularly nasty patch with the local council
relating to my late father's estate.
These matters go back to 1978 and I am an executor to my father's Will.
Documents, going back 40 years and more, have been of enormous help.
I am amazed that I kept this old stuff and am more amazed at the relevance
it has now taken.
These include correspondence, photographs, bills, accounts, invoices,
handwritten notes, telephone books, diaries et al.
I think now, after six years battling, we may have have put the council on a
back foot.
In short, keep all if you possibly can. Who knows what may be of use or
value in time to come.
Nick.
Peter Crosland
news:7hfojtF...@mid.individual.net...
Pleae can you tell us what the information is that goes back that far? In
most cases anything more than twelve years is irrelevant so this could be of
help to others in a similar boat..
Peter Crosland
Ano...@executor.question
Many thanks, Peter