To think that parents cannot leave money to severely disabled offspring free of IHT

Ultimately, this has nothing to do with farmers though.

this is clearly a complex issue so maybe a new thread to seek as much advice as possible. But as you say you have taken that advice so this is clearly just to bash farmers. What is your goal with this post?

Have you looked into how complex their estate market planning will have to be? So complex some are just considering suicide before April. FFS I can’t believe I live in a country where farmers who work their arses off are being blamed for disabled people not having enough money.

My son has complex needs. We have set up a vulnerable persons trust for him. If/ when either me or dh die rather than passing on to each other their part of the house and most of the inheritance (insurance has to be enough to pay balance on mortgage) goes half into trust and half to other ds. If the serving spouse then wants to move we can do we just have go get trustee permission (family members). Ds2 can't sell the house until ds1 doesnt want to or cant live there (not decided by la). When the other dies half of the rest of the inheritance is split again with ds2 going into trust. We've specified what the trust can be used for and who the trustees are. The trust can't be taken into account for benefits or contribution to social care so ds2 still gets what he would.

Ds2 won't have children so when he dies anything left in trust goes to ds1 or his descendants and if not others we've specified in order.

We did our powers of attorneys for each other at the same time and a will. With everything registered and the fees to stop each other automatically getting the house, it was under £1000.

Worth looking into.

There is specific planning for this, but it requires setting money aside in your lifetime (which is sensible as your wealth might get used for your care and your DC will still need money for their care) and using a disabled persons trust which are subject to a preferential IHT scheme. You can’t do the same for your non disabled children as the government accept a different regime is needed in this case.

Do you honestly think your children will live for 50 years after you die? The average life span is around 84. The average age for having a child is around 28. So if you live an average life, your DS would be 56 when you die. I really doubt he’d be 106 by the time he dies!
Whilst I can see that having a severely disabled child would cause a parent to be worried about what happens to the child when the parents die, in your case, your child has siblings who would hopefully help to support him once you’ve died. The comment about treating your DC equally is concerning - your DC are NOT equal if only 1 is disabled. You should be treating your DC equitably, which might mean leaving a greater share of your estate to one over the others.
Ultimately, this has nothing to do with farmers though.

@Noras

"It’s really not that much annually.

It gives an additional £350 or so over benefits per annum ."

But you don't realise that to most people, especially those who are either caring or because of disability are unable to work, having assets that can provide an additional amount every year even a few hundred is completely unobtainable.

@Noras

"£335,000 over say 50 years is not going to provide much additional support allowing for inflation."

Many, many disabled people have nowhere near as much as this.

I am sorry about your situation.

But;

The government are lying through their teeth when they say it is only wealthy farmers who can afford it that are being charged the inheritance tax. There are far more asset rich/cash poor farmers who are going to be caught up in this then the government wants us to know about. The people who truly understand farming thankfully realize how awful what they have done is anyway. Farmers can have millions in assets (land, machinery, livestock, buildings etc) but the cost of running all of this makes them extremely cash poor. These farmers themselves have already come on here and said that they will have to sell land to afford it, making their farm financially unviable or in some cases just sell the farm completely. And posters on here who don't know anything about farming claiming that all farmers buy brand new land rovers and go on exotic holidays every year aren't helping. I told a few friends that are farmers about it and they cried with laughter because nothing could be further from the truth.

You can’t leave him anything directly anyway. If a person with disabilities has savings over £16k it can affect their entitlement to social care, so you’d need to put it in a Trust.

Do you have something like a public trustee? Otherwise a private trust fund but only with 2 people you trust completely as the only co-signatories ( that could be 2nd cousin Glen) but make sure its set up that all money to be spent in best interests of son etc. Possibly a yearly oversight by an accountant wouldn't go astray. That's what I would do.
And spend the money on a good lawyer to draft it ( though it sounds like you may be a lawyer yourself). I'd get it up and running soon as.
Best wishes - and I'm sure your other children will understand, a lovely little nest egg for each of them is a lot more than other people get.

I actually agree that you should be able to avoid IHT in your circumstances, not least because it makes financial sense for the government to allow this. Depending on your sons care needs, social care can be extortionate so if they take a whacking great chunk off you in tax and he is left with not enough to live on for the rest of his life, the state will end up paying for his care anyway. If you could avoid IHT at least you could have some semblance of peace of mind that his future needs have been provided for.

So many of us have disabled children and can't even begin to be worrying about inheritance tax thresholds. I can't be heartbroken for someone to be 'aware that they have the finer things in life'.

DD1 has a discretionary trust but the reality is that unless DH and I die at the same time, there will be nothing to inherit.

I have some sympathy for your position, but what about the disabled people who don't inherit anything from their parents? They also haven't done anything to deserve that situation.

So, on balance, I'd rather increase the amount of inheritance tax that wealthier families pay and increase state support for all disabled people. Including those who are unlucky enough to have parents that wouldn't ever be able to provide for them.

Even after inheritance tax, your ds will still be better off than the vast majority of disabled people. If you're really concerned, then perhaps you need to talk to your other dc about reducing their share in favour of their brother.

It's good you've got Wills sorted out. Now you need to see an IFA who will help with cash flow projections and investments that produce income, so you don't feel you have to eke out your capital over an unknown number of years.

Go to an independent advisor, not one of the big investment houses / banks who will only want to sell you their products. You need independent, bespoke advice.

Are you paying into a pension for your son? That is one of the ways my mum who is a similar situation is funding my disabled sister’s later life. There are also various investments which have a life insurance element which don’t count as capital so don’t affect benefits. You need proper financial advice from someone with expertise in this area and you ideally need your other children on board. When my mum dies the estate goes into a trust which I will administer. My sister cannot inherit outright because she would lose her benefits and her home.