NealR2000 wrote:
> The 200,000 is made up almost entirely of the death benefit from his
> employee pension plan, and the inheritance from the recent death of
> his/our mother. "Salting away" money is far from what happened. In
> my non-legal opinion, if there was an inequitable sharing of living
> expenses, then this was obviously something that she went along with
> in order to maintain the relationship.
Have you asked the solicitor if his concerns are just hypothetical? In any
case it raises a point that is often overlooked regarding potential death
benefits from a pension plan. It is always worth, if possible, arranging
for the death benefits to be written in trust so that, apart from other
considerations, they don't form part of the estate for IHT purposes. I am
not sure if this loophole still exists but no doubt somebody will be along
to clarify it.
Peter Crosland
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