inheritance advice needed

safc66

my mother is 87 and is due to receive an inheritance from her spinster brother of a considerate amount, my mother has requested that myself and my brothers and sisters receive her inheritance made out in equal amounts to each of us, the solicitor has said that this is not possible as it is classed as money laundering, is this correct or is there any way around this.

cte1111

Did your Uncle leave a will? Is your Mum the only recipient?

innovate

Your mum can give you (and/or anyone else) as much of her money, and as many of her assets, as she likes to. However, if she dies within 7 years of the gift, such gifts are subject to inheritance tax, if such tax is due on her estate. All gifts made by her in the 7 years prior to her death form part of her estate.

safc66

no he hid not leave a will and no she is not the sole beneficiary, sorry i am new to this site so excuse if am doing wrong thing.

Gers

innovate wrote: »

Your mum can give you (and/or anyone else) as much of her money, and as many of her assets, as she likes to. However, if she dies within 7 years of the gift, such gifts are subject to inheritance tax, if such tax is due on her estate. All gifts made by her in the 7 years prior to her death form part of her estate.

Just to add that the amount of inheritance tax is staggered - from 1- 3 years full tax and then in decreasing amounts until it reaches 0%. I received such a PET (Potentially Exempt Tax) gift last year and so did some research myself. Interestingly I also found out that the tax is payable by the estate (in the first instance) and the recipient is only liable if there is not enough in the estate to pay the tax.

If you mum does give this money away I hope it makes a difference to those who receive it and that they make the most of it. As it's given in love so I hope that they love using it.

Torry_Quine

If she is in receipt of means tested benefits then giving away any inheritance would be seen as deprivation of assets and she would be treated as if she still had it. The exception is pension credit with an assesed period.

clairelh

Can't you gift up to £3000 per person per year tax free? Or have things changed? It's been a while since I had any dealings with inheritance but this used to be the case?

safc66

yes but my mother has requested that the solicitors make out any cheques of the inheritance to her sons and daughters and not to herself, they say they cannot do this, why is this?

Mojisola

safc66 wrote: »

yes but my mother has requested that the solicitors make out any cheques of the inheritance to her sons and daughters and not to herself, they say they cannot do this, why is this?

It could be done through a deed of variation but make sure your mother understands about "deprivation of capital" and any inheritance tax implications before making a decision.

dzug1

safc66 wrote: »

yes but my mother has requested that the solicitors make out any cheques of the inheritance to her sons and daughters and not to herself, they say they cannot do this, why is this?

Because they can only send a cheque to the person entitled to it. So they must send the money to your mother who is then free to gift it on as she wishes

getmore4less

how much money are we talking about

how big will her estate be before and after this money.

if necessary a DOV may be the best solution

Othewise she will need to collect the money and distribute it herself
(solicitor is being a bit keen sure they could do this if they wanted.