AIBU - inheritance sad story

He gifted the kids his house. I wouldn't gift it back. I'd sit down and have a discussion with everyone and try to come to a formal arrangement everyone is happy with to define what happens in the event of his death.

This is disgusting your mother should be ashamed of herself

I can see both sides your dad who left you deciding to disinherit you in favour of his more recent wife and adult child is quite painful. No wonder they’re being snitty.

and then when she dies only her child or grandchildren would inherit. It’s not very nice.

well yes I gave you a gift but I’ve got new favourites now so give it back…

When CGT has been removed from the proceeds of the same there's nothing to stop the family splitting the remains with his wife and daughter.It should provide them with some sort of buffer or a part payment towards a house deposit.

This is why you don't gift your home to your kids to avoid inheritance tax. He could easily have left it to them in a will (which he could have changed). I do think your mum and uncle are being really greedy though. At least they could agree that she would have half the value of the home (on the basis that half the home belonged to their late mum and the other half to their dad) so that his wife will have somewhere to live.

Why?

I can't go along with so many posts here that differentiate between a legal and moral argument. The grandfather gave the house away. That means it isn't his anymore, and he has no more right to decide what happens to it beyond his right to live in it up until his death. All financial planning actions have pros and cons.

Presumably the pros here were to mitigate IHT and to ensure the local authority couldn't use his home to finance care costs in the future. The downside of this is that he gives up control of the asset irrevocably. My only sympathy with the grandfather is that the solicitor who drafted this up for him perhaps didn't properly outline the terms and implications. But then again, perhaps he chose to ignore this seeing only the multiple thousands of IHT and/or care fees he'd avoid.

Morally, yes of course your grandfather's wife should inherit, and your Mum and her sibling should sign the house back over to him

No 'of course' about it, imo. Unless they coerced him to sign the house over, which seems highly unlikely given he wasn't old at the time, I don't see why they should hand it back.

I think so too. You need to get a job and try and buy the house with your mum.

Morally the money should be split between the 6 kids. Why should the youngest and new wife inherit everything?

I would also be very pissed off if I was your mother. I’ve seen similar happen before, man remarries and leaves everything to the youngest child with the current partner. Of course that will cause bitterness towards the older children.

DD from second marriage started this thread.

We need more intel 🧐

DD from second marriage is in her 20s.

Shared between six children, surely, since there is his DD from second marriage, your aunt? But your mum is being unreasonable. She is wanting to turf out her stepmother. Legal advice is needed, rather than hand-wringing, unfortunately.

Because the house is in the name of the two oldest children!

Initially I thought you aren’t being unreasonable but there’s much more to this than meets the eye. I don’t think you should be affronted on behalf of your aunt.
Why is the house only in the names of 2 of the 4 oldest children?
Is grandpa not on the deeds at all? You can check this for a few pounds via the land registry.
Who has been paying for upkeep and maintenance of the house?
Were the older ones enough to contribute something financially at the time on the understanding they would inherit?
Looking at it from your mother’s viewpoint how would you feel if a much younger woman moved into your father’s home when he was pushing 60, a home, that he owned outright, and had a child with him, father then disinherited you and that child laid sole claim to the house.

I don't think it's fair to blame your mum, if your grandad's wife hasn't looked after herself and their child in terms of future housing, that's her responsibility really. Did your grandad let her think the house was still his?
Is his wife in a position to buy the house off your mum and the other sibling, when he dies, or can your grandad and wife buy it back now?
What's to stop your mum and her sibling selling it from under them right now? They are in a vulnerable position.

Your grandfather hasn't owned the house for over 25 years, before he even met his second wife. He signed the house over to his two eldest children - they are in effect his landlord and he's a tenant, and yes he should be paying his children rent. A similar situation with my FIL's wife's Dad - he transferred ownership to his house to a niece - the niece and her husband lived in military paid accommodation - the niece asked him to move out because her husband was coming out the military after 30+ years and they wanted to live in the house!! He no longer owned the house, he had no option but to find an alternative place to live in his 80's. Unfortunately, it's not all as straightforward as you think. Morally, yes of course your grandfather's wife should inherit, and your Mum and her sibling should sign the house back over to him. It's not that simple though. Your grandfather made a huge mistake in signing over his property at such an early age, without really either looking into or perhaps understanding the consequences. I rather think your Mum and her sibling need legal advice, because they could end up with huge CGT or/and IHT bills to pay.

Wow, he’s properly fucked this up. What an odd things to do - give your house to only 2 of your 5 children? And to do it by handing over ownership instead of via a Will?! Surely most right thinking people would realise what a crazy risk that is.

I feel for his wife, did she know he’d done this when they met and married?? If I were her I wouldn’t have been moving into that house with him, I’d have bought/retained my own for security.

Just awful all round.

Was his own home so no cgt payable when he transferred it.

I also think he should have been paying market rent

When the time comes maybe the daughter can get a mortgage and buy the house from your mum and aunt?

If they're not feeling so greedy maybe they could sell it at a slightly reduced price in a private sale.

Won't it be the estate that is liable for the IHT, rather than the two owners of the house?

Government website states:
If you want to continue living in your property after giving it away, you’ll need to:

• pay rent to the new owner at the going rate (for similar local rental properties)
• pay your share of the bills
• live there for at least 7 years

Happy to be corrected on this.

Yeah I also paid for a leather jacket about 30 years ago and then I gave it away. I do regret it sometimes but that was my own stupid fault for giving it away and I can’t expect to get it back now just because I want to give it away to someone else.

How lovely living rent free in a house he didn’t own? @3luckystars ? Maybe, but don’t make him sound like a freeloader. He paid for it!

Though I agree with an earlier poster who said the only winners are HMRC. You can’t bounce a house back and forward like a tennis ball! What a mess.