Stock markets, inheritance, i don't understand

I'm confused. You haven't lost any money until you sell. Pretty sure ownership can be transferred, you don't need to liquidate. Doesn't sound like any cause to stress.

Were your siblings aware of what your dh was doing? Especially with the money from the house sale?
Are you also the executor of the will?

As you had POA, I'm shocked that you allowed him to make all these changes.
I don't know much about pensions but but I do remember receiving details on pension plans that in the years before pension drawdown, the pension funds would be transfered to a low risk investments.
So why on earth did your dh think these changes were ok, to do for 2 elderly people,, one whom had dementia.
He as a solicitor should never have done this.

I don't think the father would have minded that much. He was 6 feet under.

We are in a similar position. We have about £400k waiting to be distributed. Asked the fund manager to cash it in three weeks ago. They failed to do so (said we needed to provide another copy of the executors signature for some reason). It’s now down massively.

We will probably try to transfer the stock so that it can just wait out. But that could take years.

It is part of the reason.

But then OP will be increasing the value after probate.
There’s a tax issue there
You can't hang on to assets in a deceased persons name in order to make money.

Sorry, I think you have to take some responsibility for this. You didn’t have to hand everything over to DH, financial advisors exist for this very reason! Maintain control of your finances in future. As others have said, best cause of action is to hold on to everything for now and wait for market to rise. Also, a good time to buy if you have anything left to invest.

The issue is high risk investing was not appropriate in this scenario.

As they’re both dead not even Martin Lewis can help them now…

nothing can be done until probate has been granted.

I agree. It is irresponsible to put money into a higher risk option when the owner of the money is elderly and has dementia. The op’s husband was, imo, investing the money to make potentially higher returns to benefit the future beneficiaries. This is a clear breach of the duty with regard to the responsibility of having power of attorney. Putting aside the glaring issue that the dh was not even the person with POA!

@AppsDeleted the parents don’t need to pay tax each year - on account of them both having died. I don’t think they have much use for a pension either.

it is too late to move the money into a lower risk option now, that would mean potentially selling when prices are at a low.

Low risk, usually means bonds, cash, some commodities, traditionally low risk, poor growth.

The markets jumped when he became POTUS, & the FTSE and Dow Jones are still higher than in 2021/22/23 and 24......

DJ dropped to 21000 in Covid, its now 38000, a massive increase in just 5 years...

A friend of mine took his FS pension, moved it all into high risk funds, that was 12 years ago, his initial 200k is now, even after this week, is worth over 1m.....

I did not, my FS pension pot has hardly moved above inflation.

Well he could have left the investments as they were. He got greedy.

If you look on Money Saving Expert website
The highest interest at the moment on savings is approx
4.6% or 5% this includes tax free ISAs

You may achieve more in Stocks & Shares
Or Stocks & Shares ISAs

Each person can put a maximum of 20k into an ISA per year tax free

Each person can put 50k into Premium Bonds & all prizes are tax free

Your parents may be better off investing in a Pension as well or an annuity?

Why do you not take control of their finances yourself ?

Do your parents need to pay tax each year ?
You will need to do this via self assessment tax

I sympathise with the husband here. He has been asked to manage the money and has managed it as he sees fit. A couple of my family members who are incredibly good at high risk investing (both performing at the top of their game within banks, millions of £ in bonuses over the years) have been burned by the tariff changes.

If you're all (or more likely your husbands) so good, please make some suggestions as to how this drop in value could have been mitigated without a loss in fund value

The siblings inheritance is less than it would have been if it had stayed invested as OP’s father chose.

You can say it’s tasteless or whatever but OP’s husband has reduced the overall inheritance and disregarded how OP’s father chose to manage his money. As none of the money was his, that wasn’t his call.

I wouldn't stress about it. When do you guys need the money? If it soon i'd understand.

It still applies as many people sell houses to go into care / downsize etc

did your DH have POA for your parents too? If not how was he able to arrange these investments? You should have involved yourself and had meetings with the financial adviser. You should have spoken up against withdrawing from NS&I. Your DH I imagine is a high risk taker and saw it as an opportunity to maximise funds and he’s lost that gamble. But it doesn’t sound like he was acting appropriately. You potentially have a claim against st the financial advisers if they weren’t checking with you as POA.

Finally, a voice of reason on this thread.

It sounds as though OP's DH sold the house and invested the money in stocks and shares before OP's dad died.

Doesn't that reduce the amount that OP and her siblings can inherit before being liable for IHT? I thought that if one parent dies and leaves everything to the other parent who then dies, if the estate includes a property the amount that can be inherited befoe IHT is due is £1 million but if there is no property it is £500,000.

Surely if her DH has done that and has then lost money on the investment of the proceeds of the property he hasn't properly managed the finances.

The markets have been jumpy for a while.
A major re adjustment has been on the cards for a while.
Your husband cannot be that smart to have been moving money into high risk vehicles recently.
Obviously no one could have fully predicted the fxxk up that Trump has made though.

It might be best to sit things out and wait a year or two for a recovery🤞

@Vlinty I’m sorry for your loss.

Firstly, do not panic, I know this is scary but panicking is only going to make it worse.

Do not try to sell the shares etc. or try and fix it. You need to take a pragmatic long term approach but you also need to be transparent with your siblings.

I assume you are an executor as you were LPoA. As your DH is a lawyer ask him to calmly explain what has happened and what his proposals are for next steps. Make it clear he must not do anything without you, and your siblings, understanding the options and agreeing an action.

My first thought is IHT, as your parent’s assets (house) have previously been sold I assume their estate is primarily savings and investments. Ask your DH to provide you with a rough breakdown of the estate’s value as at your Dad date of death. That will be the date used to value shares etc. Then work out if IHT maybe due. This is a key factor.

Then work out the current value. As pp have said until you have probate you can’t sell the shares and share prices do fluctuate. At the moment it is a loss on paper only, you only realise the true loss, if any, when you sell. Again you can eventually decide to transfer shares to siblings to potentially buy time to reduce the loss.

You and your DH then need to have a face to face meeting with your siblings/beneficiaries and explain the situation. Trying to hide it will make it far worse in the long run. Accept they will be angry and need time to calm down. Having a pragmatic plan of action to mitigate losses e.g. time for share prices to go up, will help. Your DH has to be prepared to face tough questions and to answer them.

I reiterate at this stage do not panic and be patient to give the markets a chance to stabilise.