Gifting Money?

kpwll

My 90 yr old stepmother is in a similar situation regarding gifts (not selling the house) we have been told, by someone high up in private banking, that it is £3000 in total per year and not per person, so I would double-check this first.

Savvy_Sue

tipsyt12 wrote: »

I dont think inheritance tax will be a factor,she is comfortable but not that comfortable

Remember that the value of the estate includes the value of her house at the time of death. Depending on the size of the house, and where you live, that could tip the balance, even if she has very little by way of liquid assets.

Agapanthus

kpwll wrote: »

My 90 yr old stepmother is in a similar situation regarding gifts (not selling the house) we have been told, by someone high up in private banking, that it is £3000 in total per year and not per person, so I would double-check this first.

That's correct. However, it's also possible to make an unlimited number of gifts of £250 each per year to different people without incurring Inheritance Tax. In addition, the rules allow "normal" gifts for birthdays, Christmas etc, provided that they're made regularly and come out of income rather than depleting the capital.

I don't think that Inheritance tax is the OP's main problem here, though. Although her grandmother is comfortable now, if she has to go into a care home or nursing home it would be very expensive and she might need every penny. Her savings would be assessed to see if she qualified for state funding and the gifts would be counted as well.