IHTM11139 - Procedure: household and personal goods donated to charity (Form IHT408)

The beneficiaries may decide to donate the household and personal goods forming part of a deceased person’s free estate to a charity, for example, a local Oxfam shop. A donation by a beneficiary is not a charitable bequest by the deceased but it can be treated as such if form IHT408 is completed. This is a standard form that allows the beneficiaries to make such a donation and benefit from the charity exemption, via IHTA84/S142, without having to enter into an Instrument of Variation.

The form should not be used if the household and personal goods passed to the charity under the terms of the deceased’s will.