Inheritance squabbles.

[DealorNoDeal]

Got no kids. Can't stand any of our remaining close relatives. Don't intend to leave much behind anyway. We'll downsize, or do equity release, at some point so there's not much left in the property.

Our mirror Wills leave everything to a pet charity to take care of our pets.

[Zigenare]

Not "really" relevant to the OP but this information may be of assistance to at least one of you out there...

If one of your parents dies before the other and leaves *everything* to the surviving parent then on the death of the second parent both allowances of £325k can be claimed against Inheritance Tax. Thus no inheritance tax is due on the first £650k of the estate.

Hope that helps someone.

[NotAllThere]

I think issues arise where there is poor communication. Our family have always been up front about arrangements which, to outsiders, might seem a bit heartless. However, knowing everyone's wishes and where we all stand makes everything so much simpler.

That's our outlook too. Things have changed now, as we have to deal with inheritance laws put in place by Napolean, but previously: surviving spouse gets the lot. On their death, the estate is equally split between our children (or their descendents if they've already snuffed it and have kids of their own). We made some provision for our siblings to inherit if the whole family was wiped out in one go.

[WTFH]

Not "really" relevant to the OP but this information may be of assistance to at least one of you out there...

If one of your parents dies before the other and leaves *everything* to the surviving parent then on the death of the second parent both allowances of £325k can be claimed against Inheritance Tax. Thus no inheritance tax is due on the first £750k of the estate.

Hope that helps someone.

Shirley it's the first £650k.

[Zigenare]

Shirley it's the first £650k.

It is, my mishtake.

[Snooky]

We also looked at buying a care annuity but the cost of one of them is no different to selling the house - the only benefit is that you're less likely to run out of money if she lives longer than the underwriters planned for.

I'm not sure how old your mum is but we've been told by an IFA that my dad could probably get a 25-28% annuity rate, i.e. if you put £200k in they'll pay £50-56k per annum until death. He has an occupational pension and with the two combined that would cover the likely care home fees. But he's in his 90s and your mum may be a lot younger, which would mean a much lower annuity rate. The £200k would come from selling his house. The advantage is that any extra cash left from the house sale proceeds then remains untouched in his estate unless he decides to spend it. It's a bit of a gamble - a 25% rate means that if he's still going after 4 years, he's better off than if he just paid for the care home out of his own pocket.

You probably know all this but I'm mentioning it as it wasn't an option I even knew about until recently, so it may help others.

[xoggoth]

I'm currently more worried that my Mum will end up in a home and the inheritance will go on care home fees

I intend to murder someone before I get to that point so I'll be taken care of of in prison.

[tazdevil]

If you trust your child or simply have no money then rid yourself of assets (long holidays should mop up the surplus) and live on the goodwill of the child / low rent social housing. Keep funds in the bank low and claim pension credit then when the time comes the LA will pay your fees

[Gibbon]

If you trust your child or simply have no money then rid yourself of assets (long holidays should mop up the surplus) and live on the goodwill of the child / low rent social housing. Keep funds in the bank low and claim pension credit then when the time comes the LA will pay your fees

Be careful with this. Strangely it was in The Times this weekend where a woman had gifted her house to her children but continued to live in it rent free. This then is not counted as a gift so is subject to inheritance tax. Also you have to pay market rent or ditto.

[d000hg]

It's not muddled.

1. My aunt wants 100% of her own estate to go to her daughter - any trust is up to her and nothing to do with my fathers estate.

2. She also believes my father should have amended his will to look after her side of the family which I find quite unbelievable considering the point above.

1 & 2 seem somewhat unrelated, but in either case 1)is her problem though giving advice is kind of you 2)this is totally out of your hands assuming you have no knowledge of any desire he had to change the will... tough for her basically.

When mum died her children inherited the estate 50:50 but we wanted to help out her brother (our uncle). I think we modified the will as her executors to ensure we were not giving him our money but (for inheritance tax reasons), this is legal but you are of course under absolutely no obligation to do so.