Valuing estate - joint bank account surviving spouse contributed all the money

jamesgfc

Hi all, wondering if someone can give me some opinions on the below situation.

Mum passed away recently.  Dad setup a joint account in his and Mum's name and the money in the account (circa £50k) was all provided by him at the time of opening the account some 2 years ago or so.  As I understand from him, Dad thought that he would pass first, and intended this joint account to be so Mum had access to money straight away if he passed, in case a new roof was needed etc.

I'm in the early stages of estimating the estate, and some of the guidance around joint accounts question mentions:

"To value a joint bank account, divide the amount by the number of account holders, unless it’s in joint names for convenience only. For example, an older person may add their child to help them with the account. If so, use the amount the deceased actually owned instead."

I can't find an official definition for 'convenience' and so I was initially looking at providing a value of £25k against this account i.e. half the value.  However not sure if the fact Dad contributed all the money complicates this, and whether it could be argued as a convenience account (albeit to cover a scenario that didn't happen i.e him passing first).  

There have been no withdrawals on the account.

The Will states that Mum's entire Estate goes to Dad anyway - so there is no difference in terms of benefactors between assets forming the estate and those falling via survivorship.  I don't think any IHT is due as it all goes to surviving spouse. Probate is needed for some of Mum's sole accounts.

Are there any risks with getting the joint account changed ASAP to be solely in Dad's name via the rule of survivorship?  Also, in my position does £25k or £0 sound like the safest bet to enter? Or any other considerations?

Thank you in advance!

Keep_pedalling

As this is an excepted estate with everything going to the surviving spouse, it does not really matter so for simplicity  just declare 50% of it.

No IHT to pay and no need to complete an IHT return.