1st parent had no will ... 2nd parent ....?

Hoploz

This has been bothering me for a while now, hoping my mind can be out at rest.

My dad died in 2001 and had no will. He had nothing much apart from a car, jointly owned the house with mum, and they had a joint bank account. So as it was all simple my mum took ownership of the car, the bank account was all sorted fine, and she later sold the family house to downsize.

My query is, will there be any complications when my mum dies? (She has a will.) Should we have done anything more 'official' regarding my dad's estate, other than it automatically passing to her?

Does the IHT threshold automatically double? Her home may take her into the over £325k category though not by much.

Thanks

Keep_pedalling

It should be straight forward. You will need to complete either form IHT 217 or 402 to transfer your father's allowance.

This will give her a nil rate band of £650k.

Good to hear she has her will sorted, has she also got a lasting power of attorney in place? If not that should be a priority, as it should be for yourself.

Hoploz

Thank you.

It just feels a bit odd that no paperwork was done after my dad died, seems like it was all too easy!

Hubby has been executor for both his parents. Both had wills and it has taken forever to sort probate out both times. Seems much simpler NOT to have a will!

Keep_pedalling

Hoploz wrote: »

Thank you.

It just feels a bit odd that no paperwork was done after my dad died, seems like it was all too easy!

Hubby has been executor for both his parents. Both had wills and it has taken forever to sort probate out both times. Seems much simpler NOT to have a will!

It is only simpler where the estate is straight forward, with either no property involved or with everything passing to a spouse. Dying intestate is never a good idea otherwise, you only have to read though some of the other threads on this forum to see what sort of problems can occur.

Even a married couple can run into issues on the first death, as not everything automatically passes to the surviver, as many people think, and relying on intestate rules ignore the possibly that they could go together.

getmore4less

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

It is only simpler where the estate is straight forward, with either no property involved or with everything passing to a spouse. Dying intestate is never a good idea otherwise, you only have to read though some of the other threads on this forum to see what sort of problems can occur.

Even a married couple can run into issues on the first death, as not everything automatically passes to the surviver, as many people think, and relying on intestate rules ignore the possibly that they could go together.

Intestate rules cover commorientis you just have to know what they are and how they impacts an estate

survivorship clauses can cause more problems than they solve if other actions are not taken.