How inheritance tax gets paid before probate is even granted (UK)
18 August 2026 · Inherit Vault
Here's the circle that catches every executor of a taxable estate. You can't get at the money without a grant of probate. You can't get the grant until the inheritance tax is paid. And the tax is due six months after the death regardless.
The deadline is real and it charges interest
Inheritance tax is due by the end of the sixth month after the month of death. Miss it and interest runs from that date at a rate set several points above the Bank of England base rate, which in recent years has been high enough to matter on a six-figure bill. The interest isn't a penalty and there's no appeal to be had, it just accrues quietly while everyone waits for a valuation on the house.
The way out: the bank pays HMRC directly
The Direct Payment Scheme is the answer most families never hear about. Using form IHT423, banks and building societies will pay inheritance tax straight from the deceased's frozen account to HMRC before any grant has been issued. NS&I holdings and government stock can be used the same way. The account stays frozen for everything else, but the tax gets paid. Every high street bank participates, though you should expect to send the form to each institution separately and allow a few weeks.
Paying by instalments where the money is tied up in bricks
Where the estate includes land or buildings, some shares, or a business, the tax on those assets can be spread over ten equal annual instalments, with the first due at the usual six-month point. Interest runs on what's still outstanding, so it isn't free money, but it stops a family being forced to dump a house at auction price. If the property sells before the ten years are up, the balance falls due.
The other routes, in order of sanity
Beneficiaries sometimes lend the estate the money and get repaid on distribution, which is the cheapest option when it's available. Specialist executor loans exist and are expensive. And plenty of estates need none of this: if the estate falls within the excepted estate rules there's no full account to submit at all, which is worth checking before assuming a mountain of paperwork.
One timing detail that catches people: after submitting the IHT400 you have to wait twenty working days before applying for the grant. Building that into the plan, alongside knowing which accounts hold what, is the difference between a tidy six months and an expensive nine.
Sorting this out for someone else? Make sure your family never has to.
Most of the time goes on finding out what the person had and who to call. Inherit Vault keeps that list for you: your accounts, pensions and policies, and where your will is kept. Only you can read it. Your executor gets it when it is needed.
Read more
- Where inheritance tax came from: estate duty to today (UK)
- Inheritance tax exemptions: what you can leave completely tax free (UK)
- The 7 year rule on gifts: how taper relief actually works (UK)
- Farming and inheritance tax: the £2.5m cap from April 2026 (UK)
- Pensions and inheritance tax: what changes in April 2027 (UK)