When applying for confirmation to administer someone’s estate after they have died, you must complete various probate forms and send them to the Sheriff Court.

The main probate form to use to apply for probate is a C1 Confirmation Application Form. You will also need to complete Form C5 if you don’t expect inheritance tax to be due on the estate.

There are two types of C5 form:

1. Form C5 (SE) Information about Small Estates

Form C5 (SE) must be completed if the estate is viewed as a ‘small estate’.

An estate is defined as a ‘small estate’ if the gross value of the deceased’s own assets, including their share of jointly held property, and including assets that have been nominated to another person during the deceased’s lifetime but which are part of the estate (e.g. friendly society funds or a death benefit) is less than £30,000.

2. Form C5 Short Form of Return of Estate Information

Form C5 (the Scottish equivalent to the Form IHT205 for England and Wales) is used where:

  • the deceased died on or after 1 September 2006; and
  • the gross value of the estate for inheritance tax is less than the inheritance tax threshold (£325,000) or is less than £1,000,000, and there is no inheritance tax to pay because of spouse, civil partner or charity exemption.

Completing Form C5 – Short Form of Return of Estate Information

In the C5 form, the following information is requested:

Details of the deceased

  • The deceased’s name, address and date of death

Gifts

  • Did the deceased make gifts totalling more than £3,000 per year in the seven years prior to the date of death?
  • Did the deceased make a gift, but continue to benefit from all or part of the gift (e.g. the deceased gifted their home to a child but continued to live in it)?

Assets

  • Did the deceased give up the right to benefit from assets held in trust within seven years of the date of death?
  • Did the deceased benefit from assets held in trust?
  • Did the deceased own or benefit from assets held abroad?
  • Did the deceased hold any life assurance policies?
  • Did the deceased’s have any pension policies?
  • What is the gross value of the deceased’s assets?

Completing Form C5 (SE) – Information about Small Estates

In the C5 (SE) form, the following information is requested:

Details of the deceased

  • The deceased’s name, address and date of death

Gifts

  • Did the deceased make gifts totalling more than £3,000 per year in the seven years prior to the date of death?
  • Did the deceased make a gift, but continue to benefit from all or part of the gift (e.g. the deceased gifted their home to a child but continued to live in it)?

Pensions

  • Did the deceased benefit from an alternatively secured pension fund from a registered pension scheme at the time of their death?
  • Did the deceased benefit from an unsecured pension under a registered pension scheme as a relevant dependant of a scheme member who died aged 75 or over?

Assets

  • Did the deceased benefit from assets held in trust?
  • Did the deceased own any asset(s) in joint names with anyone, which passed by survivorship?
  • Had the deceased nominated any assets in favour of someone else during their lifetime?

Sending Form C5 to the Sheriff Court

Once you have completed Form C5, along with Form C1, make copies of all of the probate forms and send them to the Sheriff Court.

Get expert guidance on applying for confirmation, plus the confirmation forms you need, with Lawpack’s DIY Probate Kit.

 

Other information

 

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