Elderly parent wants to give large amount of money to me - I have refused !

This. But keep some aside in case of care needs or iht.

Better you have it than the Government takes it in IHT! You can give your children £3k per year without any tax implication and can carry over unused from previous year (ie £6K), you can also gift for weddings (£5K for child, £2.5K for grandchild).

You'll need to look at the tax liability implications for larger sums, but as a guide its 40% if death occurs within 3 years, then its tapered the longer your parent is alive after gifting the money. Worth seeking professional amount if its a very large sum.

You can give £3000 away per year without any IHT implications as I understand it, so I would say yes to that amount.

Um, it depends.

Will your parent require adult social care support in the future or would they be self-funding, if care required?

It could be seen as a deprivarion of assets if the former.

Its a shame, so many elderly people leave it so late to give money.

I do believe as the younger generations age, they will be giving money away earlier (70s) to avoid this issue!

If you're not going to accept it, why are you asking what the implications would be?

It doesn't matter does it?

Could you put in in a seperate account which she could potentially access herself when needed. Then if not you just keep it? Or give to your kids etc?

But if it's to try and get out of paying care fees then she could get in trouble and I suppose drag you down with her.

If you genuinely don't want it, accept it and tell her you'll be donating it to charity. If she's happy with that then do just that. Or she might then say she'd rather give to someone else?

I would talk to them about why they wanted me to have it and depending on the answer either ask them to reconsider or accept it and put it into a savings account in case they needed it back for care costs or similar.

The OP hasn't said how much money is involved. Every is assuming there will be inheritance tax and yet the estate might be small.
Even if it's a large estate the parent can do what they want with the money as long as they can afford it. They probably want to see the money enjoyed. A bit late probably, as IMO money should be given when offspring are young and need it most

I wouldn't worry about the IHT side of things unless your mum is very wealthy.

Presuming your dad died whilst he was still married to your mum... his tax free amount £325K would pass to your mum ... when she dies then her tax free amount kicks in making it £650K .... if she leaves a house to you then there is even more tax free concessions taking it up to almost a million.

I'd just say thank you, take it and then discreetly put it in an account, untouched.

Either they are wanting the pleasure of giving to their child(ren) whilst they are still alive - in which case why would you deny them this?; or they are misguidedly thinking it will avoid inheritance tax or care home fees - in which case you can just keep it safe as part of their estate to be declared and considered (or for care funding purposes) for when the time comes.

I would think that being in your 90s must really change your perspective on a lot of things. You don't make future plans (for yourself, anyway); you assess your priorities, including making a point of saying/giving/doing things for your children/grandchildren whilst you still can; you're probably thinking of your legacy (emotional and familial as well as financial) as you enjoy your twilight years, whilst being very aware that the night could come at literally any time.

If it's something that isn't far-reaching, or easily remediable, sometimes, it's nice to just do what brings a very elderly person happiness - even if you then react/put it right privately in a way that they may not have specifically intended or thought. Just like you would thank them genuinely for their kindness, if they gave you a hideous yet kindly-intentioned present for your birthday, before quietly funnelling it the way of the charity shop.

How much ? Can they afford it ? Di you have siblings ?

putvin an account so there if they need it

Accept and if not sure, accept and put in a savings account. Why would you say no then ask for opinions?!

I think this is complicated OP - as others have said if they need care at any point and don’t have hundreds and hundreds of thousands in assets and need funding, it could be seen as deprivation of assets - I’m not sure if they could come after you for it , but that may be a possibility - others will know. Then as others have said IHT - now if they are well under the threshold then there isn’t an issue, although you will be taxed on it - however if they are over the threshold and survive less than 7 years then it would be added back in and taxed for IHT.

it would be much safer I feel for them to give you modest sums - ( although I don’t know what amount is proposed) be it £5k a year at your birthday etc .

If the estate is depleted because the gift was too large, then OP will have to pay the IHT.

In addition to this, it’s not just £325, it depends if the donor is married and has property it’s much higher.

Take the money

Especially if you are not claiming benefits

You can put up to a maximum of 20k per person into a tax free ISA per year

You can put up to a maximum of 50k per person into Premium Bonds
All prizes are tax free

I would also suggest that you check your state pension forecast & National Insurance contributions

www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Th first-year they gift they can gift £6k each to you. So you could accept £12k from them that you put away into an ISA or bond and forget it if you don't need it.

If it's over £3k and takes your yearly income over tax threshold, then you'll pay tax. As said, deprivation of assessts, further tax implications etc can arise. If you need to claim benefits, it's seen as income. I'd take it and set it aside for now. Without explaining their circumstances, it's difficult to fully answer.

But the IHT will come from the donor’s estate, I believe, and depends on the £325K threshold?

I work for an LA that would deem this Deprivation of Assets if your parents dropped below the threshold for LA funding.

If your parents still have a massive amount of money/assets left after gifting some to you then it should be ok. Care Homes are up to £1500 a week each, so assume a possible £75000 per annum each. If each of them needed a care home place for 5 years (extremely unlikely) that would be £750,000. So if their house and savings are more than that it should be ok. BUT they absolutely should talk to a Financial advisor

This is the answer. Put it somewhere safe but know that it's your parent'm oney and they might need it.

I think at age in 90s that we can anticipate that care may be needed!

Maybe not up to 70s.

So in the OPs case, it is very relevant.

Not necessarily. The rules vary council by council. My MIL did this and because the agreement to give the cash was made before she needed care, and was made for a specific purpose, it was not deemed to be "deliberate deprivation".

I would do the same in yoyr parent's shoes ... but earlier. I will be giving my son £400 per month when I get to state pension age as I don't want to be building savings and money given from "surplus income" on a frequent basis is not subject to tax

The urge to help your own child is so strong, let your parent help you. As others have said you can stick it in a savings account but it sounds as though they would get an awful lot of comfort from giving you some money, so don't go all Mrs Doyle on them!

Say thank you, take it, and only spend what you REALLY need out of it.