Probate Fees

[OwlHoot]

It is worth noting that your 325k TAX allowance is transferable i.e. a married couple, one dies and leaves it all to their spouse (unlimited tax-free between spouses), then the spouse dies, they have £650k to give before IHT kicks in.

Yup, and as I've pointed out here before, the Government has actually missed a trick, which is hard to believe considering how desperate they are for money NOW!

As the daft rules stand, if the first partner/spouse to snuff it bequeaths _anything_ to someone other than their partner then inheritance tax is payable on the whole estate (and then again on the entire remnant when the second partner pops orf).

What this obviously means is that the first partner inevitably shifts the whole lot over to the surviving partner, and the tax man sees no interitance tax until the latter has also died.

So it would make more sense (it seems to me, if I haven't misunderstood the rules) to simply levy inheritance tax on any portion of the estate bequeathed to other than the partner. That way, the Government would be no worse off in the end, and they would likely get a piece of the pie when the first partner died.

Also allowing the first partner to bequeath to others without this "double penalty" would generally mean younger relatives inheriting money earlier, which would presumably stimulate the economy, instead of old timers simply hoarding the money in bank accounts.

[d000hg]

As the daft rules stand, if the first partner/spouse to snuff it bequeaths _anything_ to someone other than their partner then inheritance tax is payable on the whole estate

I'm not sure about that, can you back it up?

When dad died he left virtually everything to mum but with a small amount to myself and my brother (it may have been 5k each IIRC). When mum died, our FA handling all the probate, etc, said mum had inherited something like 95% of dad's IHT allowance i.e. £315k.

I wasn't involved in the small details so I may have this all wrong I suppose.

[Mordac]

I'm not sure about that, can you back it up?

When dad died he left virtually everything to mum but with a small amount to myself and my brother (it may have been 5k each IIRC). When mum died, our FA handling all the probate, etc, said mum had inherited something like 95% of dad's IHT allowance i.e. £315k.

I wasn't involved in the small details so I may have this all wrong I suppose.

You can leave a "gift" to someone other than your spouse tax free, but I didn't think it was as much as £5k.

[AtW]

Just noticed the massive rise in probate fees. Inheritance tax increase anyone?

This is effectively now the Inheritance Tax #2 - just like "Auto Enrollment" is National Insurance #2, and since Tory Scum gave no promises regarding those taxes they can increase them with impunity...