Inheritance tax

frankie1star

oh my goodness, some of these posts have incensed me. How can people be so judgemental. The OP was merely asking a question, which is what this forum is for. If these judgemental responses are made, then less people are unlikely to seek help.

RayWolfe

People get tons of help here.
It does not, however help with questionable, fraudulent, dishonest wheezes.
This may not have been any of these things, on the other hand, it may.

sparky999

bac86 wrote: »

And you feel it's fair to ignore your nan's last wishes through greed ?
And don't change your tune. Your motives were loud and clear here


Like it or not, your proposal is fraud.
Show a bit of respect towards your nan!

As some of you might appreciate it can be hard losing someone close to you, but as a family were slowly sorting everything out and it was my idea to post on here for advice, so thank you for those of you who gave advice, that is the sort of thing I was hoping for and was why I originally posted.

Years ago as a family, including my nan before she became ill we used to quite openly talk about what was being left to us all, this includes money left to my nan from my grandad and it was his wishes that once my nan passed that any money left was in turn passed on to us all, so because of this we know that she wouldn't of gone against his wishes and hence I don't think she realised what she was doing.

Bac86, you don't know me or any of my family so if you can't give any advice then I would prefer it if you kept your arrogant views to yourself, we would never dream of going against my nan's wishes but don't honestly believe this is what she would've wanted !!

Once again thank you everyone else, I hope you understand and don't see this as fraudulent, dishonest or greedy !

happywarmgun

I think there would have been a reasonable question from the first poster (probably in the wrong forum) which is:

- We don't want to sell now, we wont get what 'we think' is proper value for the house in the current market. How do we work with the Charity to stop them forcing the timing of the house sale?


But the OPs original proposition of "Can we sell it to a family member at a knock down rate to make the estate seem smaller" does sound dodgy as heck!

zzzLazyDaisy

I am sorry for your loss, but I would guess that it is very likely that your Nan did know what she was doing and had probably had advice from somewhere.

Why do I say that?

Well, for a long time IHT limits were around the £250k mark and property levels were high. Also being able to use her late husband's IHT allowance as well as her own is a recent development. So this would have meant that anything over £250k would have been taxed at 40%. It is/was common in that scenario for people to leave a sum to charity which is exempt from paying IHT, rather than leave the money to the government in the form of IHT. So it could well have been seen as good tax planning at the time.

The problem is that the will doesn't seem to have been reviewed in the light of more recent developments in IHT limits and the fall in property values. I suppose you are sure that this is the most recent will?

The easy way to find out if she knew what she was doing would be to ask the solicitor who drafted the will to get the file out of archives - all solictors keep files at least six years, many a lot longer than that. At least you might find out what motivated her to leave the money to charity and that might put your mind at ease.

But assuming the will is valid - and from what you say, there isn't much doubt about that - then yes you do have a problem because the charity's trustees are have a legal duty to ensure that the charity gets the best valuation from the property. If they fail in their duty, they can become personally liable and can have to make up the difference from their own pocket (the charity commission can investigate their accounts). The trustees are very often not paid, but do the work voluntarily, so they MUST act on the advice of their accountants as otherwise they could lose out themselves.

So if I were in your shoes, I'd get three valuations from local estate agents and make it clear to them you want the property priced realistically for a quick sale. That will give you a starting point for agreeing a figure with the charity. Yes they can insist on a sale, but that will involve estate agents fees and other costs and could take time, so they may be willing to agree to a slightly lesser amount to get the money in earlier.

However, don't take my word for this. If there is any doubt the executors should go and see a solicitor who deals in wills and probate. They will be able to tell you exactly what you, and the charity, can and can't do.

RayWolfe

Thank you David ...... I think. Because, frankly, I haven't got a clue what you are saying. Are you rushed, or dyslexic?

relaxtwotribes

sparky999 wrote: »

Years ago as a family, including my nan before she became ill we used to quite openly talk about what was being left to us all

But seemingly not openly enough for your nan to tell the family about the (changed) will. Unless your nan was diagnosed with dementia before the latest will was executed (and from your posts the timeline of events is unclear) which would perhaps explain that omission.

Are you sure that previous wills were silent on the matter of bequests to charity? The fact that your nan chose 30% and not 100% or 50% or any other percentage suggests an element of consciousness in what she was doing.

The timing of the onset of dementia will be crucial if you decide to challenge the will, but if you do then you can expect the charity to fight that and then the only winners will be the lawyers. The estate is not large to enough to fund such a battle.

Take the 70% and if you can raise a mortgage on the house to pay the charity, then fine. If not, you'll have to break any emotional attachment and sell.

triticale

RayWolfe wrote: »

Thank you David ...... I think. Because, frankly, I haven't got a clue what you are saying. Are you rushed, or dyslexic?

He's a tooth-whitening scammer trying to up his post count.

RayWolfe

Ah, now I understand!
Simples.

sparky999

thank you zzzLazyDaisy thats a very helpful post and does explain a few things to us.

With reference to when the will was written and when she was diagnosed with dementia, she was medically diagnosed after the will was written but she was obviously suffering for a time before this but we will never know whether she was suffering when she wrote the will.

Thanks again