Wife's use of my bank accounts.

squirrelpie

Cobbler_tone said:

squirrelpie said:

Cobbler_tone said:

There is a situation to work through where her dad wants to pass her mum's wealth to her (which he thought was detailed in the will and he is self sufficient) but it appears it was listed to go to him and then on to her.

I think that can be fixed with a Deed of Variation, which I understand is fairly simple as long as he is willing.

Thank you, good info.
I think in reality he would have just transferred whatever funds over in the coming weeks. I pointed out that this may cause the family issues at a later date, so best to follow the appropriate route.

A deed of variation would mean that the funds never pass through the dad's estate, whereas they would become vulnerable to IHT for seven years if they did.

Cobbler_tone

squirrelpie said:

Cobbler_tone said:

squirrelpie said:

Cobbler_tone said:

There is a situation to work through where her dad wants to pass her mum's wealth to her (which he thought was detailed in the will and he is self sufficient) but it appears it was listed to go to him and then on to her.

I think that can be fixed with a Deed of Variation, which I understand is fairly simple as long as he is willing.

Thank you, good info.
I think in reality he would have just transferred whatever funds over in the coming weeks. I pointed out that this may cause the family issues at a later date, so best to follow the appropriate route.

A deed of variation would mean that the funds never pass through the dad's estate, whereas they would become vulnerable to IHT for seven years if they did.

I don’t think they’ll be dealing with amounts troubling IHT (it’ll be under £100k in total) but I recommended they do the transfers as intended to prevent it changing hands. Thanks for the heads up.

SacredStephan

lr1277 said:

Do one or both of you use credit cards? Does your wife have a supplementary card on your account? If your wife has a supplementary card on your account, it will stop when the bank is informed of your death. If your wife is ok with credit cards she should get a card in her own name if she doesn’t have one already. 

When my Uncle died his widow was surprised that her credit card was immediately cancelled by the bank. She assumed for many years that it was a joint credit card account, not realising the subtle difference between a joint account and an additional cardholder. She did subsequently apply for a credit card in her name but was only offered a very low credit limit.

lr1277

SacredStephan said:

lr1277 said:

Do one or both of you use credit cards? Does your wife have a supplementary card on your account? If your wife has a supplementary card on your account, it will stop when the bank is informed of your death. If your wife is ok with credit cards she should get a card in her own name if she doesn’t have one already. 

When my Uncle died his widow was surprised that her credit card was immediately cancelled by the bank. She assumed for many years that it was a joint credit card account, not realising the subtle difference between a joint account and an additional cardholder. She did subsequently apply for a credit card in her name but was only offered a very low credit limit.

As I have said in other threads, sometime after reaching pension age, Nationwide offered my mum a credit card, She had a joint current account, ISA's and joint savings account with Nationwide, but no income was paid into the Nationwide account. Her pension was paid into Natwest.

But they offered and she accepted.

It was useful for the daily shopping as well as exceptional expenses around dad's funeral.

After some time sorting out things like widow's pension both from DWP and dad's employer, she got a credit card from Natwest with approximately double the limit of the Nationwide card.

For the OP: if your wife doesn't have any credit cards but wants one, does she have a current account and other entries on a credit file? Otherwise worth putting some bills in her name as well as a pay monthy phone SIM contract.

Whilst I am here, the joint current account was advantageous because both widow's pensions continued to be paid into the what was formerly the joint account, but now a sole account in mum's name. No need to inform DWP or dad's pension provider about a change of banking details.

mowerman2

Albermarle said:

mowerman2 said:

Thanks folks- most helpful.

I will see if the accounts can be changed to joint failing which she can open a new account to which I'll transfer funds.

I assume there is no gift tax on monies being given to a spouse?

There is no gift tax in the UK, whoever you give your money to.

https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax/gifts

artyboy

mowerman2 said:

Albermarle said:

mowerman2 said:

Thanks folks- most helpful.

I will see if the accounts can be changed to joint failing which she can open a new account to which I'll transfer funds.

I assume there is no gift tax on monies being given to a spouse?

There is no gift tax in the UK, whoever you give your money to.

https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax/gifts

So potential inheritance tax, rather than a gift tax. And easy enough to avoid as long as you just keep going...

Albermarle

mowerman2 said:

Albermarle said:

mowerman2 said:

Thanks folks- most helpful.

I will see if the accounts can be changed to joint failing which she can open a new account to which I'll transfer funds.

I assume there is no gift tax on monies being given to a spouse?

There is no gift tax in the UK, whoever you give your money to.

https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax/gifts

That only relates to restricting people avoiding IHT by making large gifts. There is no tax on the gift itself.

Most peoples estates are not liable for IHT anyway, so not relevant to them at all.

Even if they are liable for IHT, the only issue is that a large gift will be counted back into the estate if you die within 7 years.
So you ( or your estate ) would be only back where you started. There is never any extra tax to pay, by giving a gift of any size to anybody.