Inheritance Tax

dianne_weeks

I have been advised to make a Deed of Variance on my fathers will in which my sister and I were equal beneficiaries.
My sister is currently separated from her husband and is concerned about the implications for her if we go ahead with the Deed.
Can anyone advise?
Regards
Dianne

Andy_L

Well if you vary the will to disinherit your sister the implications for her are quite significant.
Could you be more specific about what you're changing in the will? I'm guessing she's worried about her (soon to be ex?)husband getting his hands on her share of the inheritance

Bossyboots

I do think we need a bit more information really as Andy says.

What do you want to vary the will to and why would be useful to know, otherwise answers will be a bit speculative.

What I can tell you though is that if the will is varied to pass her share direct to children or for you to be sole beneficiary, her ex could still seek a settlement relative to a share of what she should have had.

dianne_weeks

Thanks for responding. The intention is that she still inherits half dad's estate but my half alters to go to our sons and that we "borrow" from this money until we pop our clogs so the boys don't have to pay IT on what we haven't spent. Effectively the sum of money my sister inherits does not alter but the way dad's will might be changed shows her half split and my half split two ways. But in her circs. she wants to be reassured that the variance won't be to her disadvantage. Hope this makes the scenario clearer and I would welcome your further advice. Thanks. Dianne

Bossyboots

I can't see any problems for your sister but I am bemused by your plans. You will have to put the money in trust if the children are minors and the trustees will not allow you to spend the money.

Debt_Free_Chick

Bossyboots wrote:

I can't see any problems for your sister but I am bemused by your plans. You will have to put the money in trust if the children are minors and the trustees will not allow you to spend the money.

Is it that clear cut? (Just curious as this is not my area of expertise at all!).

Couldn't a trust allow the income to be used for the benefit of the children e.g. to feed & clothe them?

Couldn't the money go to a named person to be used "for the benefit of the children" without the need to create a trust?

Tiggs_2

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

Couldn't the money go to a named person to be used "for the benefit of the children" without the need to create a trust?

such a step would, in effect, create a trust.

Tiggs_2

to deal with the OP question...i see no reason why your sis should care how your half is re-distributed, it wont affect her at all.

only concern is.....the trust holding the assets needs solicitor advice otherwise you will end up in a world of problems, has he/she not covered these points already?

Bossyboots

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

Is it that clear cut? (Just curious as this is not my area of expertise at all!).

Couldn't a trust allow the income to be used for the benefit of the children e.g. to feed & clothe them?

Couldn't the money go to a named person to be used "for the benefit of the children" without the need to create a trust?

Not in my experience. The trust would only be available for exceptional essential expenditure. The parents would be expected to feed and clothe the children so the trustees would not be allowed to release funds for that.