IHT – unmarried and childless? Discriminatory IHT .. needs reform !

mlz1413

rnj said:

In similar situation but have higher allowance. I've made a LOT of convenience and quality of life improvements in the last few years to up my spending and am a lot happier for it.

I have to ask though, if you don't want to spend it or give it away, why accumulate it?

Q. Why accumulate money if you don't have children?
A. Because I don't know how long I'm going to live!


I am the same as OP, I have never married (have significant other but financial not linked)

I don't have children because I didn't want them.

I am spending my money whilst fit and able to, but I want to live comfortably when I retire so I need pensions, savings and investments. 

My house is worth the IHT allowance. So anything left will be taxed at 40% which seems unfair when I want to leave money to friends and their children, who are important to me.

Why should the government get 40% more on a part of my estate when I haven't missed any years of work. Haven't claimed any benefits (child allowance/free dental/ssp etc etc), or burdened any services (hospitals/doctors/schools).

Why can't we be equal?

Also some people may have children they don't want to leave their estate to, they may have neighbours/friends who have been kinder and more involved.  But it is the same estate.

mlz1413

HedgehogRulez said:

You could of course get married and have children….unless….?

Unles...You don't want to...

OP said they were in 50s.  As a man he could pick a bride and have a child.
But for women in their 50s that isn't an option. 

But ultimately anyone in their 50s without children is unlikely to have got there by accident or mistake. 

silvercar

Why can't we be equal?

Also some people may have children they don't want to leave their estate to, they may have neighbours/friends who have been kinder and more involved.  But it is the same estate.

“Equal” could be restricting the tax free inheritance to direct descendants, why should your friends and their children gain from their parents and from you?

The idea of leaving your estate to people who have been kind to you, suggests some transactional arrangement. This may make sense for the childless, but for anyone else the family bond usually carries a lot of weight.

But ultimately anyone in their 50s without children is unlikely to have got there by accident or mistake. 

Or has never met anyone who wants to have their children, at least for a man.

DRS1

I wonder if we are going to see any death bed adoptions as a tax planning exercise?

Andy_L

DRS1 said:

I wonder if we are going to see any death bed adoptions as a tax planning exercise?

I doubt you could jump through the legal hoops quickly enough if you were on your death bed. Or that the social worker assessment would come back positive.

Perversely it would probably be quicker/easier to zoom up to Scotland and marry them if they were in the 16-17 range as an IHT avoiding measure

Emmia

Andy_L said:

DRS1 said:

I wonder if we are going to see any death bed adoptions as a tax planning exercise?

I doubt you could jump through the legal hoops quickly enough if you were on your death bed. Or that the social worker assessment would come back positive.

Perversely it would probably be quicker/easier to zoom up to Scotland and marry them if they were in the 16-17 range as an IHT avoiding measure

That's only possible if you're not already married and assuming you're of sound mind and able to travel.

silvercar

DRS1 said:

I wonder if we are going to see any death bed adoptions as a tax planning exercise?

Interestingly, some countries allow adult adoption for these reasons. According to AI “ Adult adoption is not legally possible in the UK, as adoption laws only apply to individuals under the age of 18. Other countries like the U.S., Japan, Germany, and Canada permit adult adoption for reasons such as creating legal inheritance rights or formalizing a family bond, but the UK does not”

mlz1413

The idea of leaving your estate to people who have been kind to you, suggests some transactional arrangement. This may make sense for the childless, but for anyone else the family bond usually carries a lot of weight.

About 10 years ago an old lady (I believe she was called Mrs Wong or Wang) left her house to the family next door, she left a letter with her Will says she had done this because they had looked out for her for years and then cared for her as her mobility went.
This was more than her children and grandchildren had done and she wanted to repay their kindness. 

The family had no idea the old lady and done this.

To me that sounds like a wonderful thing to do, but sad if the government got more tax for her rewarding people with more sense of family than her own blood.

sheramber

mlz1413 said:

The idea of leaving your estate to people who have been kind to you, suggests some transactional arrangement. This may make sense for the childless, but for anyone else the family bond usually carries a lot of weight.

About 10 years ago an old lady (I believe she was called Mrs Wong or Wang) left her house to the family next door, she left a letter with her Will says she had done this because they had looked out for her for years and then cared for her as her mobility went.
This was more than her children and grandchildren had done and she wanted to repay their kindness. 

The family had no idea the old lady and done this.

To me that sounds like a wonderful thing to do, but sad if the government got more tax for her rewarding people with more sense of family than her own blood.

Maybe she wished the government to benefit rather  than her children

Andy_L

mlz1413 said:

The idea of leaving your estate to people who have been kind to you, suggests some transactional arrangement. This may make sense for the childless, but for anyone else the family bond usually carries a lot of weight.

About 10 years ago an old lady (I believe she was called Mrs Wong or Wang) left her house to the family next door, she left a letter with her Will says she had done this because they had looked out for her for years and then cared for her as her mobility went.
This was more than her children and grandchildren had done and she wanted to repay their kindness. 

The family had no idea the old lady and done this.

To me that sounds like a wonderful thing to do, but sad if the government got more tax for her rewarding people with more sense of family than her own blood.

10 years ago there wasn't the extra IHT allowance for passing a house onto your children though