legal
Sevenyear
The gift trawl for probate
Flags likely lifetime gifts in a deceased person's bank statements, for probate firms to confirm. In development
visit Sevenyear
who it's for
Probate firms in England and Wales, from fixed-fee providers to private-client teams, starting with a small group of pilot firms. Executors working without a solicitor are not covered yet.
what it does
- Reads a deceased person's bank statements and flags likely lifetime gifts for the executor to confirm
- Every page read twice, independently, and checked against its own balances where the statement shows them
- Transfers to family, large one-offs, standing orders and school fees flagged with a reason, then marked a gift, not a gift, or a loan
- Spots missing months and accounts that appear in transfers but were not supplied, and drafts the request letter to each bank
- A draft IHT403 schedule for the firm to check and file
- A report for the file: every account and month reviewed, each gap and what was done about it, and every decision
- Never contacts HMRC and never holds or moves money
frequently asked
What is Sevenyear?
Sevenyear reads a deceased person's bank statements, flags the likely lifetime gifts for the executor to confirm, and prepares a draft IHT403 schedule. Every account and month is either covered or recorded as a gap. It is in development, for probate firms in England and Wales.Why do lifetime gifts matter?
Gifts made in the seven years before someone dies count towards inheritance tax, and the executor has to list them on HMRC's form IHT403. Statements do not label anything as a gift, so today someone goes through up to 84 months of statements for each account, usually with a highlighter.Does it replace the firm's judgement?
No. It does the first pass through the statements and the write-up. The firm's team decides what counts as a gift and signs off the schedule.Does it use AI?
Yes, for reading the documents: two different document-reading models read every page, and fixed rules check the balances and dates. Where they disagree, or a page does not add up, a person looks. Firms' data will not be used to train outside models.When can firms use it?
It is starting with a small pilot: a few firms, working on estates that are already finished, so nothing affects a live filing. Firms can join the pilot list on the Sevenyear site.Can executors use it without a solicitor?
Not yet. It is starting with probate firms.
built by
Sevenyear is a project by Ben Huss, a founder and product engineer based in London and Somerset, UK, who designs and codes his own apps end to end. Founder of Immersi (360 video, VR and interactive tours), CTO at Cobble (location-based audio walks), and host of The Immersive Technologist podcast.
