iht nil rate bands

flybywire

How do you word a will to ensure both the husband and wife use their IHT nil rate band pls

For a normal will "I leave everything to the wife / husband etc there will only be one nil band

Confused

peggydoodaa

Realising this probably isn't the answer you're looking for... but you really need to see a specialist to write these wills. They are not easy done by yourself, and indeed mistakes can even make things even worse.

Mrs_pbradley936

Have a look on here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=308275

But basically you have to put property into "tenants in common".

Jake'sGran

flybywire wrote:

How do you word a will to ensure both the husband and wife use their IHT nil rate band pls

For a normal will "I leave everything to the wife / husband etc there will only be one nil band

Confused

I discovered a while back that there is no cheap way of doing wills involving the use of two nil rate bands. The quotations I have had have been from £400 to £600 for a will to mitigate IHT. This subject has been discussed extensively on another thread. You can arrange the Tenants in common arrangement without it costing you anything.

EdInvestor

If you split your assets up while both partners are still alive and they are both under the IHT threshold, do you actually need to do an NRB trust before the first death? Could you not use the deed of variation to adjust matters later?

Jake'sGran

EdInvestor wrote:

If you split your assets up while both partners are still alive and they are both under the IHT threshold, do you actually need to do an NRB trust before the first death? Could you not use the deed of variation to adjust matters later?

Very interesting question Ed (hope that is your name) as I have been thinking about just that arrangement this week. But, when I started to do the calculations i.e. how much I could transfer, I realised that the bulk of my investments are in Peps and ISAs. I would need to sell some and the tax and CG advantage would be lost. What is more my OH would then have to start paying tax. When it comes to my share holdings it would not be sufficient to even things up. If the house was in his name only it would equalise things but this goes against the grain for me. So it seems that my habit of saving and investing has put me in this unusual position of having to arrange an IHT effective (and expensive) will. One solicitor I spoke to did say that the IHT threshold is ridiculously low in view of the rise in house prices but I doubt that Mr Brown will be in any hurry to make a substantial change.I understand it will be £300,000 next year).

EdInvestor

JG

Congratulations on your investment prowess If you figure out a way around this eventually, do let us know what it is.

It is really ironic that so much effort is being expended on an issue which is actually not going to affect the individual concerned because they will be dead.

margaretclare

EdInvestor wrote:

It is really ironic that so much effort is being expended on an issue which is actually not going to affect the individual concerned because they will be dead.

Yes, exactly. In addition, what I wrote earlier - that there are so many more interesting and important things going on in the world to get involved in. The time we have left is so short to do the things we want to do.

Margaret