If Labour raises taxes what will you think?

Can I ask why your BIL was on benefits for 40 years?

@Blossomtoes

No, if they won their case, they’d (rightly) be paid by your mother.

They would not win. The council who took her neighbour through the courts lost on the basis that the trust was set up when she was in good health.

The judges ruled that the health issues she developed 20+ years after the trust was established could not have been foreseen at the time the trust was set up.

@NorthXNorthWest

Who should pay for her care if she goes into a care home?

The state. Just like they did for her BIL who was on benefits for 40 years before he event into a care home.

@RoostingHens

If she has continued to live in her property without paying a market rent then not only will the council be interested, so will the tax man for inheritance tax.

Gifts made 7 years before death are not subject to IHT. Also, IHT does not kick in unless the inheritance exceeds £325K

Market rent does not apply. I know this because my mother’s neighbour had not paid rent at all in the 20 years+ she lived in her house after the trust was set up before her death.

Where is all of this cheap undeveloped land with amenities and access to services, hospitals etc and decent public transport? What about the endless supply of cheap building materials? Shall we build houses for our wider support network too? I'll wait.

Problematic cultural attitudes are not exclusive to the British. Your hardworking immigrants vs brainwashed, sponging Brits is just as offensive as anything Farage or Stephen Yaxley-Lennon could come up with. There are freeloaders in every society around the world.

The Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions didn't happen then?

Fair point though, we are miles away from ours and our son is presently in SA and dd likely to relocate to Europe for her partner's work. But, we have made provision for ourselves and for our mothers.

I agree with including finance in the national curriculum - although too much about mortgages and pensions would probably send the kids to sleep.

However, as the curriculum is already too full, something will have to go.

Well, I heard on the news today that they’re adding mortgage and financial info like this to the curriculum which is great. Wish I was taught this in school and saved/invested better and from a younger age.

We all die so the decision we make is how much to spend before we die. As we don’t know when we will die some may spend it all and rely on the state to pay care home fees. Others may be more cautious and keep it in case we need it in old age. The question for the state is how much to encourage us to spend (boost economy) and how much to save (and pay for our own care). Of course, election cycles matter too if they boost the economy now versus saving on care after the next election or two.

Agree - one of many cliff edges we have in our tax code that lead to really counterproductive behaviour for individuals AND the state.

“Gifts with reservation
If the person who died gave a gift and used it in the 7 years before they died, it is seen as a ‘gift with reservation of benefit’. It is not an outright gift and is not exempt.
As an example, someone could transfer ownership of their house to a relative and continue to live in it without paying rent at the going rate.
If they continued to use the gift in the 7 years before they died, it counts as part of their estate. It does not matter when they gave it. It is taxed at the market value at the time of their death as if they still owned it.
If they paid rent at the market rate when they gave away their property, they would not have retained a benefit…
Tax on the gift with reservation is usually paid by the recipient of the gift. If tax is outstanding 12 months after the person died, their personal representative may have to pay it.“

www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-inheritance-tax-due-on-gifts#gifts-with-reservation

The nil rate inheritance tax band is up to 1 million on main property (2 x 325k plus 175k property to direct descendants ).
40% only kicks in after that.
As it is generation housing bonanza wealth, that is 1 million x millions of people that is untaxed entirely. I was not saying that 40% is reasonable. I think it should be a low rate like 10% on everything pretty much. That would also avoid people structuring around it. May actually raise some serious money as well.
As people keep going on about wealth taxes, a death tax is surely the best as easy to administer and we all die and who actually is so greedy they care more about what they pay when dead, rather than still alive.

Who should pay for her care if she goes into a care home?

Her property was put into trust for the grandchildren almost 20 years ago. Hopefully that is long enough to stave off any claims the local council may make in the future.

If she has continued to live in her property without paying a market rent then not only will the council be interested, so will the tax man for inheritance tax.

That just shows how many people’s stay in a nursing home must be well below 18 months in order to bring the average down.

People used to live closer to their families because there were better work options everywhere. Nowadays, kids go to uni and never return to work in their home towns because there are few decent jobs outside the major cities unless you're a medic or teacher or happen by chance to live in a place with a big employer nearby, and even then, it's not much help if your kid is an actuary and the nearest insurance firm is a couple of hundred miles away from your home town. I don't think people realise that family fragmentation is often due to the massive decline in choice/options of professional employments out in the regions. The "brain drain" is very real.

Why are people here thinking there aren’t inheritance taxes? It’s 40% and one of the drivers of people leaving for better tax regimes.

Court and legal fees incurred by the council would be taken from council tax revenues

No, if they won their case, they’d (rightly) be paid by your mother.

@RoostingHens

My father has been in a care home for 6 years at cost of over £100K paid by his state and NHS pension.

Since he went into care, my mother has made full use of the £3K per person per year HMRC allowance for gifts. It ensures her savings are below the threshold for payment of care home fees.

@RoostingHens

My father has been in a care home for 6 years. He is often the only male resident.

Total care home costs to date exceed £100K. All paid by his state and NHS pension.

Since he went into care, I have advised my mother to fully utilise the £3K per person annual HMRC allowance for gifts. This ensures her savings are always below the care home limits. So, if she went into care, she would not have to pay.

Her property was put into trust for the grandchildren almost 20 years ago. Hopefully that is long enough to stave off any claims the local council may make in the future.

However, her solicitor advised that the council will attempt to take her property as they might get lucky. Court and legal fees incurred by the council would be taken from council tax revenues.

Yes not sure how the pp put A next to that, sums up Labour

Three of my great grandparents, born in the 1880s lived into theor 80s. Cared for by working women. They died in the 1960s. Going back through my family tree, amny lived to their 70s and 80s going back to about 1730.

There is also the fact that if far, far more women work now, that extrapolates to far, far more people paying tax.

Perhaps living standards need to fall and the state may need ro ourchase the btls that will come up due to tighter regulatuons and less tax relief.

Not everyone is a burden on the state and I reiterate my point about every individual having a log of credit and debit. Perhaps ultimate estates could then be charged for what's been used.

What I wonder is how people looked adter their elderly relatives prior to the 1970s before care homes and social care took off.

Most people died far younger then, @RosesAndHellebores, many men in particular within a couple of years of retiring.

The average stay in a nursing home is just 18 months.

What I wonder is how people looked adter their elderly relatives prior to the 1970s before care homes and social care took off.

Put the responsibilities on their daughters / daughters in law mainly, I think. I know my mother remembers her grandfather moving in to their (small) house for her mother to care for him - she didn’t work out of the home in the daytime, so fitted in elder care around childcare.

I think generally people didn’t need care for as long, either. And of course families tended to be bigger and more local.