MIL gifting money to DC

No inheritance tax is payable on gifts given within 7 years of death. However there is a nil rate band of £325 000 so the £50 000 would be covered by this.

The younger three are too young to be given money yet. She may decide to give them some when they are older if she’s still around. Whatever happens it is not a lot to do with you. I hope the older two have shown their gratitude for such a generous gift.

Surely it would br CGT, not inheritance tax

No good deed goes unpunished. Arguably you have been liberated, there’s £50k you don’t need to find to help your 2 eldest. Btw the second eldest should understand that her £25k isn’t going to be replaced by Mum and Dad if she spends it on something other than a deposit for a house. Re the other 3 they are quite a bit younger and perhaps you can plan that when they are wanting to buy a home they will receive the equivalent of £25k (whatever that’s worth with inflation etc). If granny intends helping them, let them know that, so there’s no ill feeling. There’s only so much crystal ball gazing that you can do. Maybe your son needs to help her sort out a will whilst she is competent and in good health.

This is such a difficult subject but OP has possibly not provided the full facts. IF the other posters are correct and the eldest are not hers the situation is much more complicated and the siblings will never inherit the same amounts anyway. The OP will be fully aware of this so her assertion she simply wants fairness and parity is not fully correct.
The fact is the children will find different vocations, will marry into families with wildly different financial circumstances anything can happen with illness, promotions, winnings etc.
It now seems the Grandparent has looked at the current set-up and acted accordingly. Perhaps she is the one resetting to a more equitable balance.

Even without the cap people get to keep some of their savings

I think you.l find they can. The cap was never introduced and cancelled by the new government.

No, u have a suspicion that the older 2 are OPs step children.

Surely that changes things though if the eldest 2 are her biological grandchildren and the youngest 3 aren't? The youngest 3 have another 2 sets of grandparents plus her as a stepgrandmother? Is that right?

Think it’s been mentioned that the oldest two are the ops stepchildren. She does say they are bio ‘grandchildren’ not ‘children’.
I assume that this is more about her children losing out rather than an elderly woman doing what she wants with her own money.

Maybe MIL doesn't have enough money for all 5 GC to receive. You chose to have 5 DC, and there is a large age gap between them.

Surely someone who has £50k to give away now is clearly wealthy; so I assume has other saving plus a decent property.
So genuinely the likelihood of them going into care and using up all of their savings is relatively small.
Surely then there will be money left for the other children?

DSis not D son

on the moral/fairness side, I have had discussions with own DM who thinks my DS children are more spoilt and privilege than her other 6 grandchildren so gifts for birthdays different amounts accordingly and at one point was going to distribute different amounts in her will. My DB & I are uncomfortable with this, we think all should get the same and I pointed out to DM that anything could change between the date of her Will and when it gets put into action. E.g. on the her ‘less spoilt’ grandchildren could get several promotions in his already prestigious job, another might marry someone wealthy, one might win big on the premium bonds. She can’t keep changing her will to make it fair!! From a moral perspective I do think all 5 in this case should get the same benefit otherwise it can cause upset and resentment for life.

I haven’t read many of the replies but I assume if able to gift £50k now and planning on gifting to the others possibly in a will, your MiL estate is worth more than £325k and/or more than £500k including her home. She should get legal/tax advice because if she dies within 7 years of a gift that gift is included in the estate for inheritance tax calculations. Gifting to minors under 18 is usually done through a trust with named adult trustees and there will be a cost to the paperwork to do this. Maybe that put her off as it would be be an extra cost on top of the cost or preparing or amending a Will? But I agree also there is a risk of care is needed much of her estate could be used to pay. The threshold at which SS arrange help is less than £23k in assets in total, including the house unless a spouse or dependent relative lives in it. The amount that can’t be touched is £14K. Care fees in South East can easily reach £60k per annum. The fairest thing in my view is create trusts for the younger three now / that is assuming she has £75k free to gift. She can gift £3k per annum free of IHT and regular gifts from income.

Have you said thank you?

I do.
I do.
We don't actually know how much of a relationship 2 adults in their 20s have with the younger ones.
I suspect the older kids aren't actually OPs.

Also they've been told they'll be sorted.

Spend 15 mins on MN. Many many many people find their siblings a massive problem.

☝🏻this

seriously?
do you have a family? Do you like them?
This is one of the coldest things I've read.
this isn't some random "child" it's their little sister/brother
Most people love their siblings, they don't see them as a problem!

again this just shows how either incredibly privileged or terrible at maths people are. Or maybe both!

For the vast majority of people, birthday or christmas money is twenty or fifty quid, and test and exam money from grandparents isn't even a thing.
It does not, even if there is a big age difference, add up to TWENTY FIVE GRAND.

On the lower end of the scale, say gc 2 years apart, dgp dies when oldest is 21 - getting £25 each off granny for birthdays and christmas, the 21 year old will have received a whopping £100 more over the course of her life compared to younger sibling. That's not a house deposit.

Say a richer granny and a much bigger age gap - £100 for Christmas, £50 for birthdays, dc are ten years apart. That's still only £1500 more. Enough to buy a cheap first time car.
What OP is talking about is enough to buy SIXTEEN of those cars.

I despair that people can't see the difference....

And throwing it out there that OP should just make up a £75 grand shortfall as if that is in any way feasible for the average family. Come on!!!

YABU

what???
10k for a house deposit is still more than most people will get off their grandparents.
and she doesn't 'need' it now - it's hardly standard for most people to be buying a house at 25! If she wants a 25k deposit she can save up the other £15k herself like her peers who aren't getting anything at all have to, she's still at a huge advantage to them, and if granny dies and the £75k is available she can pay off her mortgage early then with her additional £15k.

Are you honestly saying you would give one of your kids £25k and others nothing? If not, why is it okay for a grandparent to do it?

Yes I agree. I've always tried to be scrupulously equal with my DCs. She could have divided the £50k between all 5 easily enough, but I guess she was working on the basis that the older two have a more pressing need right now. As others say, it's her money her choice but if I was you I would have liked her to pass the plan by me first.
She may well have nothing to gift the others at the end of the day.

If you do an AS, you'll see that the eldest two children are not the OP's children. They are her stepchildren. Her stepchildren received money from their grandmother, but the OP's children haven't received anything yet. That is why she is annoyed. Her children didn't get any money.