Probate Fees

[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...

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Mordac]

I'd be more annoyed at being dead...

You're on your own there, I'm afraid...

[AtW]

Is it actually a staggered scale or a proper sliding scale? Because that table says at £500k it jumps from £1000 to £4000 which would be annoying if you're on the boundary.

I'd be more annoyed at being dead...

[d000hg]

That's a bit surprising, ouch.

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.

Is it actually a staggered scale or a proper sliding scale? Because that table says at £500k it jumps from £1000 to £4000 which would be annoying if you're on the boundary.

[WTFH]

Remember, it's a "fee" not a tax.
And National Insurance is a "contribution" not a tax.


The Tories don't put up taxes, that's what Labour do, so if you think these are new taxes, blame Labour.

[scooterscot]

Blue power! How lovely.

[Mordac]

But really it is only taxing those with plenty of dollar...

the best option is to enjoy the money you have earned and leave enough for the kids...

I seem to remember probate is paid before the distribution (although I could be wrong on that, the solicitor who dealt with the estate was a bit crap, to say the least) so that's a pretty hefty lump to cough up in advance of settlement. £200 or so wasn't an issue, but it'd be £4k now (based on an estate of 500k-1m).

[original PM]

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

Here.

Just reading that. B***S!

But really it is only taxing those with plenty of dollar...

the best option is to enjoy the money you have earned and leave enough for the kids...

[OwlHoot]

Just read the excellent recent biography King John: Treachery, Tyranny and the Road to Magna Carta, by Marc Morris, and flip me I really don't think there's much he could teach this government about tax extortion!

[xoggoth]

Just reading that. B***S!

[Lockhouse]

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

Here.