Inheritance tax

sparky999

Hi all, right hopefully some of you may be able to help me with a few problems i've got regarding inheritance.

Last month my dear old nan passed away after a long struggle with dementia, since looking into her will it seems that she'd changed it a few years back to give 30% of her estate to charity. Her estate consists of property about £270K and 50K of savings, I don't believe if she was thinking properly she would've done this but there's nothing can be done about this now. Since instructing the solicitor he's informed us that the way the will is written means that the charity can insist on us having to sell the property if they believe the property is worth more than we say (basically if the offer isn't enough). Although we are happy to give something to charity this seems like alot of money to give away, is there anyway of paying less ? As, like i said earlier if she was thinking normally I don't believe she would of left her family short ! I wasn't sure if there was a way of selling the house to another family member at a cheaper price and then in theory her estate is alot less.

Thanks in advance, any info or advice of where i can research is much appreciated !!

CLAPTON

is there any evidence that she wasn't 'thinking' properly... doctors evidence etc?
was the will properly witnessed?

if not you seem to be asking for advice about how to commit fraud

if a solicitor is acting as executor this could be a problem

sparky999

CLAPTON wrote: »

is there any evidence that she wasn't 'thinking' properly... doctors evidence etc?
was the will properly witnessed?

if not you seem to be asking for advice about how to commit fraud

if a solicitor is acting as executor this could be a problem

No there isn't any evidence but we all knew her and what she would've wanted. It seems a bit strong to to call it fraud, all i'm asking for is a bit of advice as to me it seems unfair that a charity has such power and can insist on the house being sold which in the present climate isn't worth as much as it could be in years to come !!

CLAPTON

what has the charity got to do with it?

unless there is evidence otherwise then it is your nan's legal wishes

sparky999

CLAPTON wrote: »

what has the charity got to do with it?

unless there is evidence otherwise then it is your nan's legal wishes

Because as I stated in my first post she changed her will to include the charity (which is fine as this would've been her wishes) but I don't honestly believe she realised the power she was giving them !!!

YorkshireBorn_2

bac86 wrote: »

How does 70% leave the family short?

I think you would feel very differnt if you was in Sparkys shoes

RayWolfe

YorkshireBorn wrote: »

I think you would feel very differnt if you was in Sparkys shoes

So you agree, this is all about greed and that you would feel cheated.

John_Pierpoint

Obviously I don't know which charity it is BUT some of them are very professionally run. I believe they have a service that scans all grants of probate to make sure the executors don't try to dis-inherit them.
Though you might be just under the InHeritance Tax (IHT) nil rate band (or only half way there if nan can claim 100% of her late (?) husband's allowance) there could be Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to consider if the house increased in value between nan's death and when you sell it.

Bequests to charities don't pay IHT nor do charities pay CGT, so the charity as a major beneficiary is likely to want to get involved; to make sure that the executors now owning nan's house sell it as bare trustees for the beneficiaries, so as not to lumber them with CGT..

It might help if you post the exact wording of nan's will (just put joke names in the place of the real names).

Was the will drawn up by a solicitor? (or similar "professional") I would bet that they have covered their back by taking notes. The father of a friend secretly did one of those equity withdrawal deals on his house. That fact along with the solicitors letter saying "....I can only advise you that you should carefully consider discussing this with your family.....". came as something of a surprise to his children and grand children.
I think this father's attitude was probably: "I bought this house for £150 and it it is now worth £150,000 - hell I'm going to spend it as I see fit - not everyone can call themselves a 6 figure man".

Did the charity fit in with nan's outlook on life? (Cats' Protection League anyone;))
http://www.cats.org.uk/legacy/

YorkshireBorn_2

RayWolfe wrote: »

So you agree, this is all about greed and that you would feel cheated.

bac86 wrote: »

No, I'd have enough respect to be grateful that my nan chose to give me something.

All I am saying I know my own familys feelings towards what is going to happen with things when they pass away or are ill. Maybe we are just open and a close family who don't have problems talking about it.
I would not feel cheated if my nan or grandad gave away a large % of what they owned, I would just find it odd they didn't tell us.

dzug1

If the house has to be sold, the charity are entitle to insist that it's at a realistic value. I doubt if they would want sale to be deferred until the market recovers, just that it's sold in a realistic timescale for a realistic price. If the IR official valuation has accepted the probate value the charity would be hard put to insist on something different.

It's possible they would accept an income - ie rent - for what would be their share of the house. Or that you could raise a loan on the house to pay them off. I don't think selling it is the only option.

And I suspect that your Nan did know what she was doing - she might have got the sums wrong, but I doubt if that makes any difference

Murdina

However you may feel about the situation, you are where you are. dzug1's suggestion you consider an income arrangement seems good.

I have had a close friend challenge a will where its terms were not clear. She spent a ton in legal fees & it ended up with the disputed parties just splitting everything - which was not a lot - 50:50. If it is a national charity, they will have specialists working on this area as stated above. They can probably afford to argue more than you can and are bound to act in the best interests of the charity by securing that any bequest made to it in a will does actually find its way to them.

Sadly family members do not always act as we would expect, even when we think we know them well.