My Will...and Inheritance Tax

Bloo

Male age 62, living in England. My wife and I have a Will leaving everything to the survivng partner. She had a son who will get everything once we have both gone. The son is not mine and was never adopted even though he is now 40 and I've known him/brought him up from the age of 2.

As most of our assets are in our property and we'd leave it to him, if I am the last surving partner will he incur any inheritance tax on my death due to not being my biological or adopted child?

Thanks

Keep_pedalling

Difficult to say without knowing a bit more about your joint net worth. It is also quite possible that the RNRB won’t be in existence by this time next year let alone by the time both of you die.

As it stands the RNRB applies to step children as well as adopted children, so it does not really matter who does first. 

You both might like to consider severing the tenancy on your home and changing your wills to leave your share to your son via a immediate post death interest trust which will give the surviving spouse a life interest and protect the inheritance for the son in the event the surviving spouse remarries and fails to make a replacement will.  

Bloo

Thanks for your msg. Est. estate (incl. property) is £500k at present, which as we're not in an area of volatile house prices probably won't change to a great extent.

p00hsticks

Bloo said:

Thanks for your msg. Est. estate (incl. property) is £500k at present, which as we're not in an area of volatile house prices probably won't change to a great extent.

In that case, in todays terms, as a couple leaving everything to each other you're well under the threshold where you'd need the RNRB