To think it’s unfair that some people get inheritance while others start with nothing?

What incentive would there be to work hard and save then OP? We're already paying 40% tax, CCT, inheritance tax if needed and at risk of having our properties sold for care costs. But hey ,do take whatever is left to distribute amongst those who've spent their lives expecting something for nothing. If I genuinely thought I couldn't hand on what I have to my children I'd retire today and start spending every bean I have in my lifetime. Imagine many others would do the same.

When has fair ever had anything to do with how life pans out? You must be very young and naive to make such a comment.
What is fair and already in the taxation system is that Inheritance Tax is payable on estates over a certain amount, have you heard of it?
I imagine that someone who makes a comment like that isn't troubled by having too many brain cells.

Ok, work all your life, scrape together enough for a small mortgage and buy a house, put some savings away and when you die we’ll take it off your kids and share it out amongst us, you good with that?

I come from a family who never had anything to hand down. My parents are probably the first generation to have property ownership.

Though they both remarried and it probably (in fact very unlikely) won’t be given to the us siblings - that’s ok I never expected it! It will most likely go to the second marriage partner and onto my step siblings or/& half brother. Or their share could be used for their care in old age.

Fair probably not but such is life :) We have friends who already received inheritance who would much prefer to give it all back for their parents back. Or another friend who had a wealthy childless Aunt expected a share (& probably made life choices thinking he would) only to find out when she passed had decided to split it between charities.

I will hopefully be able to give something to my children but who knows what direction life will take us!

Why this obsession with inheritance? I find this really unpleasant. I never think about inheritance because I have never ever considered my parents money as mine or due to me. It's THEIR money. They worked hard for it. It's for them to dispose as they want. If I wanted to be well off, it was always for me to follow on their steps and make money myself.

I hope my parents live to 100 and spend their money on them. Just as I hope for myself. My kids might or might not get something, some day. I hope they won't wait to earn themselves the income they wish rather than waiting for me to die to enjoy it.

But (assuming we have to collect tax somehow) wouldn't you be better off paying less tax on your income and being able to invest/ give it to your kids as you please. I never understand this analysis from high earners (which I am).

YABU to categorise all inheritance as being “from privilege”. My father left school at 14 to go down a coal mine. Worked selling household goods door to door on his days off. Taught himself to fix his own car and do all DIY in the house. Mum worked in the local butchers when we were at school.

They saved enough to put a £50 deposit on a house and managed to get a mortgage for the rest. This was circa 1955 and I think the house was something like £7k (although I could be completely wrong on that but the deposit was definitely £50).

When they died, me and my sister got £47k each. I put £40k into my mortgage and treated us with the other £7k. It cut years off our mortgage and means we are now mortgage free.

Myself and DH are both NHS health care workers. We’ve worked bloody hard and done multiple degrees and professional development courses. We’ve worked bloody hard and only had one week of holidays together as a family for the 15 years or so, while the DC were in school and split the rest up to save on child care.

I now have an asset (house) to either pay for my future nursing care or pass on to my DC. I’m not going to feel guilty about that.

My dad taught us to work hard and not waste money on shit. I’ve never owned anything designer etc. Don’t have savings if you have debt /pay your mortgage off as soon as you can. He came from a very poor working class family and I’m proud of what he achieved to help us out.

I'll bet my inheritance that @ThisCandidCritic won't return to the thread.
OP YANBU to think it's unfair, because it IS unfair, because life is unfair.
That's that.

Life isn't fair! Money is only part of this intrinsic fairness and anyone in the UK is incredibly lucky financially when you compare yourself to large parts of the world. Do you have a moral obligation to give money to those people in poorer countries that have less than you? Even a 'poor' British person would end up a hell of a lot worse off if wealth was distributed completely evenly around the world.

So my parents built a successful business, employed lots of people, have paid 45% tax on the income earned, have paid 20% tax on the money they spent, have payed capital gains tax on the investments they made, and will pay 40% inheritance tax on all money over the meagre threshold allocated - but you don’t think that’s enough? I may be privileged in your definition but you are unbelievable entitled expecting to determine what should happen to order peoples money. I really don’t know how it’s got to the point that people seem to think they have a right to others money simply because they don’t have as much as they’d like themselves. Quite extraordinary.

Just the way it is… and I say that as someone who has had to earn every single penny they have entirely, with no help of anything whatsoever.
What I DID have, which has given me an huge advantage over many - rich and poor- was the unconditional love and support of my parents. They were dirt poor but gave me their time, love and attention along with a respect for education.
I know many very wealthy people who had horrible, lonely childhoods despite their private educations and material advantages.

It’s not all about money.

Well indeed, Op. While we’re having a moan, down with those parents who help with family while they are still alive, too! Selfishly working to provide for their own families instead of the greater good of others and the treasury.

Parents should be heavily discouraged from being allowed to help their children whether in life or death. And if they do, they should be taxed to the hilt for daring to do so.

And don’t get me started on lottery winners. How very dare they share anything with anyone. Grrrr!

Well my mum and dad don't have a pot to pee in so I won't inherit anything but I don't begrudge anyone else getting anything.

Well people can work hard all their lives and still not have much to leave. In a way it is unfair but life's not fair never has been never will be

Just life isn’t it? I never received anything when my parents died, and my partner has just been left £200,000 and his dad’s house after he died last year.
Just the way it goes.

You think that money people have worked hard for all their lives and earned shouldn’t be able to be given to their children or other family members? That would be very unfair and will never happen. Why shouldn’t money that I’m putting aside for my children go to them?

Is this just about money ? Or are we including inheritance of good health, good looks, family connections etc … ?

Should we tax beautiful people with nice hair ? And the offspring of Labour Party bigwigs ?

I mean poor Georgia Gould, that would be nothing of her left.

What you call 'wealth' can cover a lot of ground. Money, property, personal possessions.

So, one part of a couple die - if the other half doesn't inherit, is that other half evicted? And who owns the dead partner's share now? The state?

My mother's eternity ring - I inherited it. Who should have got it?

Really @ThisCandidCritic, have a word with yourself.

And if you're going to play at being a Goady Fucker, you need to up your game.

I am thinking this as well!!

I agree.
Full disclosure my inheritance was £800, my partners was £2000.

My great grandparents had nothing, my grandparents had nothing and guess what my parents had nothing. I however do and I intend to leave as much as I can to my children. I have already paid tax on my money and when my children inherit they will have to pay IHT so the money will be taxed twice isn’t that enough. Give your head a wobble. It’s not half term somewhere is it?

The money you start with isn't everything.

I'm from an immigrant WC single parent background, skint family, but managed to get into Oxbridge. I met people there from very wealthy backgrounds. One of them even flat out said to me it didn't matter if he took a third because he never really had to work due to his parents' wealth (they bought him a restaurant which failed).

Decades later and myself and the (few) other WC kids I knew from my time at uni have all done very nicely for ourselves. We had no safety net so we all worked incredibly hard, and used the privilege of an Oxbridge education to open doors for ourselves and lever ourselves up.

The much wealthier kids are much more of a mixed bag in terms of how they turned out.

Yes, inheriting wealth is lucky, and strictly speaking it's not fair. But I also think that having a large safety net can make some people complacent, sluggish, and happy to rest on their laurels.

For what it’s worth, my parents are spending every penny they have. And why not!

My in-laws on the other, live very frugally and have vast amounts of assets which may or not be left to my DH. Why shouldn’t he be left an inheritance? The also opened savings accounts for my children and pay into that. How wonderful they can do that. Do you think their assists should be left to the state to share with others instead?

Does the same go for family heirlooms? Should families not be allowed to keep those in the family either?

Yes it's a flawed system

Yes people want to look after their children

So did every ruler who was toppled by a revolution - keeping wealth for yourself leads to a disfunctional society and an impoverished angry population

It's bad because it fuels house prices which dominate s nursery and care home costs, which drives up council tax bills

But as long as your kid is alright eh?

But your kid isn't - they are trapped in a failing country where we are all scrabbling to stay afloat , where we would rather people kill themselves than use up valuable inheritance.

@GiveMeSpanakopita Your parents obviously had cultural capital. I left school before access to the internet. I had no idea Cambridge then had exams you had to sit before the form to apply for universities was available. I found out after the date had passed. I doubt my family could have afforded the travel costs anyway.