If it appears from your investigations into an omission or
undervaluation that the taxpayer has left matter in the hands of
agents or has not checked work done by the agents then you may wish
to offer advice on the following lines to help future compliance.
‘Where a personal representative (PR) employs an agent
to act on their behalf we still expect the PR to act carefully and
prudently to make sure the account they are being asked to sign is
correct.
Where for example they have sorted through the
deceased’s papers and passed on to their agents those that
might point to estate assets, we expect the PR to check with the
agent, at or before signing the account, that the agent has made
and completed their enquiries into those potential assets. They
should also make sure that where assets have been identified from
those enquiries they have been properly included in the account.
We expect PRs to make similar checks when subsequent papers
are found or correspondence is received and passed on to agents.
Where correspondence that points to further assets is received
after he account has been delivered then the PR needs to ensure
that IHT we are notified of the additional assets as soon as
possible, and within 6 months at the latest, in order to ensure
that they do not make themselves liable to a s.248
penalty.’
