Using double allowance for IHT

malkbk

I understand ,as my father passed all of his assets to my mother when he diedin 1991 ,when my mother dies she will have an IHT threshold of £600K. is that right?

Lord_Lucan_3

The IHT NRB for 2008-2009 is £312,000. It does not matter if the first spouse died in 1991 or 2008 the allowance when the second spouse dies will 2x the prevailing IHT NRB. So, for 2008-2009 it will be £624,000.

If a spouse re-marries they are still only entitled to 2x the IHT NRB.

malkbk

Thankyou very much for that.It is a big relief as no IHT avoidance been actioned date.

If anyone can answer the following two questions I would be very grateful.

1) Given this(£624k threshold) does it matter if any gifts were given in the 7 years prior to her death?Mums assets are likely to be in the £300 to £400k region at the moment but she would like to give me about £80 k to help witha house purchase.As we are so far below the threshold can she do this with no comeback?

2)At the moment I am living rent free in a property that my mother owns as I have not been able to sell my house in another location and needed to move.We are unable to pay rent and my mother does not want any.Does this count as a gift ? and in the circumstances listed above ,does it matter?

Thankyou for any help you can give.I am executer for my mum when she dies and I do not want any unexpected bills!!

dzug1

On those figures she can give you £80K with no inheritance tax implications - though it could cause problems on a different front if she goes into care and runs out of money to pay the fees.

The rent probably counts as a gift but again would not matter for IHT given the size of the estate