IHT question

L.F

I would like to know the IHT position regarding my mother. She and my father owned their house jointly. He died 30 years ago and left his half to my mother. She remarried 18 months later but retained the ownership of the house solely in her name. On her death would she be entitled to the double IHT allowance?

SeniorSam

Owning a house jointly means that when one dies, the other is automatically the owner of the whole, so your father did not actually gift his half.

At present the nil rate band allowance of each person is £325,000 and if your father left all of his other assets to your mother and did not make any gifts on his death or within 7 years of his death that were above the gifting allowances, then your mother will have her nil rate band allowance and your fathers allowance when she dies.

It is important to retain the Probate documents recording the value of your father's estate, as these will be needed to support any claim

Sam

xylophone

http://www.aat-interactive.org.uk/cpd/archives/1431

may be worth a look.

getmore4less

SeniorSam wrote: »

Owning a house jointly means that when one dies, the other is automatically the owner of the whole, so your father did not actually gift his half.

At present the nil rate band allowance of each person is £325,000 and if your father left all of his other assets to your mother and did not make any gifts on his death or within 7 years of his death that were above the gifting allowances, then your mother will have her nil rate band allowance and your fathers allowance when she dies.

It is important to retain the Probate documents recording the value of your father's estate, as these will be needed to support any claim

Sam

THats not how it works, you posted on this only yesterday after your talk with HMRC.

getmore4less

Read IHT402 and fill it in as that will tell you what she will get from first husband.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/373532/IHT402.pdf

30 years is around 1985 so after(1974) the unlimited spouse exemption came in.

if the current one dies first she can claim his as well

the % from both can't exceed 100%

Savvy_Sue

Has she outlived both husbands or just the one?

SeniorSam

THis may help http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-2728896/Can-Grandmother-use-nil-rate-bands-late-husbands.html

Both nil rate band allowances are available up to the maximum of two persons .................. £325,000 x 2 in this case.

This is not the same as the case discussed yesterday as the first death in this case has a full allowance to pass on.

Sam

L.F

Thank you all for your advice. Both my mother and her second husband are still alive although he has no call on the house as it's solely in her name. It looks as though she will get the £650,000. I will try to obtain the probate documents for my father, who died in 1985.

Mojisola

L.F wrote: »

Thank you all for your advice. Both my mother and her second husband are still alive although he has no call on the house as it's solely in her name. It looks as though she will get the £650,000. I will try to obtain the probate documents for my father, who died in 1985.

He could challenge a will that would leave him homeless unless some other financial consideration was made in lieu of the property.

L.F

Yes, she is leaving him some money. They are both in care homes so he wouldn't be left homeless.