Reducing IHT

MarzipanCrumble

Can you make regular gifts i.e. each month which won't make any difference to your normal spending and does not come out of capital, but does come out of excess income?

If so, suggest you gift this way as won't be counted as a 'gift' but you need to keep records - I use an excwl version of IHT403.  I make monthly SO to my sons which I increase yearly in line with inflation.

badger09

MarzipanCrumble said:

Can you make regular gifts i.e. each month which won't make any difference to your normal spending and does not come out of capital, but does come out of excess income?

If so, suggest you gift this way as won't be counted as a 'gift' but you need to keep records - I use an excwl version of IHT403.  I make monthly SO to my sons which I increase yearly in line with inflation.

I could, and is what my husband has been doing for almost 30 years, keeping meticulously records. There are many reasons why I didn’t do the same but they’re not relevant here. 

Unless the monthly sums were substantial though, I doubt I could gift enough this way, and I could not justify those amounts as ‘excess income’. 

Useful suggestion for others, thanks