Family want us to give financial gift back....

[Liskenly]

A couple of years ago DH's grandfather gave us a substantial financial gift (he was very wealthy). We'd brought a house that needed a huge amount of repairs and this money funded all of the repairs. We never asked for this money it was a spontaneous gift - his view was that we'd make better use of it than he did. We were very close to him and cared a lot for him prior to his death late last year. He has sadly now passed away. He has left the main part of his estate to be split between his 12 grandchildren (many of whom haven't seen him in the last 5 years). They are now insisting we give the gift back (taking it from the inheritance) so it can be divided between the 12 grandchildren with the rest of the of the estate (it has turned rather nasty). We're not wealthy, but we are comfortable, but can't afford to give back the money - basically it means we'd have to give £10k back to them as well as not have our 'share' of the inheritance. I've not met 5 of them but now recieving really nasty emails, texts etc. What would you do?

Ignore the request- it was a gift to you and none of anyone else’s business.

Even if there is IHT due on the gift, wouldn't that would be part of the IHT which the estate needs to pay prior to distributing what's left? Rather than being a bill which OP needs to pay? That was my understanding unless the gift itself is over the IHT threshold which I'm presuming it's not.

Unless he made provision in the will for your share being reduced they don't have a leg to stand on. Whilst we can't know what he knew, he at least had a will and considerable wealth so he either
A: knew that if he died within 7 years the gift would still be counted for IHT. Also knew you had effectively received more than cousins. Made no effort to resolve this in will so was happy about it
B: didn't care enough to find out what the implications might be
C: hoped for some resolution he never wrote down or discussed...

A seems more likely

If the will states to return it fine if not up theirs. Look at the date on the will if its after the gift was given they haven't a leg to stand on. If it was before they may try to fight it but it will cost them. Leave it to the lawyer but no reason for you to return it unless it says too.

Hm, isn’t there something about gifts in the last 7 years being taxable? Is that relevant or does it form part of the will? You need to get advice OP. The law is the law, and the will is the will. This is really black and white - either you’re entitled to a specific sum or share or you aren’t, but what is absolutely clear legally and practically is that a will can never require you to give money back.

Block them all and get on with your life 😊

Definitely don't reply to any emails only correspond through solicitors

By all means get legal advice. However the reason I say not to take the Inheritance money is that inheritance disputes are awful awful things. If OP has received money before, are doing fine now then honestly fighting for this extra money even if 100% entitled to it really isn’t worth it. Why make your next few years all about lawyers and your family relationships strained at best. There are more important things in life.

Ps the way to get free legal advice is to write to the executor ( which will hopefully be a lawyer?) asking what the legal position is regarding your share of the estate. And then that’s final. They sound horrible and grabby. I always think this kind of thing is so distasteful and would have the relative turning in their bloody graves. And in my experience, it’s always the ones who had no involvement when alive that pop up like fucking jackintheboxes are soon as they die. It’s vile.

Take advice

Take the rest of the money left to you

Block them - you barely know them

Enjoy the cash

The most I would offer is to deduct the extra tax payable (the tax on your gift amount) from your share of the inheritance.

It's really not a straightforward calculation by the sounds of it. Are you sure they've worked it out correctly?

No reason at all for the executor to be a lawyer, DB and I were executors of my DM's will. And we are certainly not lawyers!

OP, I would clarify your position with a solicitor separately. And no, I wouldnt be giving anything 'back' or suggesting DH foregoes his inheritance. I dont think its what the GF wanted to happen.

The OP shouldn't start making deals; she should just ask them to explain, via solicitor, their legal position ie ask to see their hand (I suspect they don't have one).

Parps is right - any attempt at "fairness" will be viewed as weakness.

OP and her DH were just fortunate to be given this money - and unfortunate that the GF died with the 7 year period, which made this cash-grab attempt possible. Under NO circumstances should she and her DH start negotiations.

OP take the advice of people on here and contact a solicitor - I would get one who specialises in this area if you can, as I have a feeling that these things may be on a case-by-case basis depending what other provisions are in the will, and, of course the size both of the gift and of the estate.

Obviously the GF didn't explicitly exclude the gift (probably didn't even give it a thought), but neither did he say "Except for LiskenlyDH and Liskenly who have already had their share" - so it's obvious to me that he didn't consider the gift "their share". However the law might have her opinions - this isn't something to be decided by well-meaning people with no legal training.

Don't try to keep the peace or maintain good family relations - that ship has sailed when the other family members started making demands: If OP'sDH gave in to them - they'd be crowing that they'd won and would feel justified that they'd stopped him ripping them off (and wouldn't come out of the woodwork until another relative died) and if OP'sDH didn't give in to them, they would nurse their hatred for centuries. Families are a bugger in situations like this.

Greed - the gift that keeps on giving.

The thing is though, if the money is owed by the OP and her husband, then from their perspective, the OP is the greedy fucker here.

An appointment with a solicitor to sort this out is a hell of a lot less than 10,000 pounds. But, I don’t know how anyone here can say with confidence whether the OP does or doesn’t owe the money based on the very limited information given.

Don't offer to do anything!!
it's foolish to negotiate with people whose opening move is to take the piss
Her opening move should be 'fuck off, we are done'

The money isn’t owed by op’s dh though, only the estate.

You need to get a copy of the will and go and see a lawyer to advise. I wouldn’t be giving money back or forgoing a share of the remainder.

If the gift needs IHT paying on it and this reduces the total value of estate ( tax paid by estate) I can understand why they are miffed. The gift to her husband is effectively reducing their inheritance

I don’t think they should pay it back though, just cover the tax from their share

I don’t know how anyone here can say with confidence whether the OP does or doesn’t owe the money based on the very limited information given.

Exactly, BlackCat.

Not enough info, not enough knowledge of the law.

Hm, isn’t there something about gifts in the last 7 years being taxable

My understanding is that, so long as the gift is under the IHT threshold overall then they don't go after the gift recipient but instead add the value back to the estate for the purposes of calculating the IHT due (allowing for tapering). Then the gifts get the threshold first

So if you had a 400k estate and gave away 100k, then died within 3 years the IHT bill would be 40%x (400-325) = 30k. But that 30k would all come out of the remaining 300, the gift recipient would be untouched

This doesn't apply if the gift is over the 325 threshold.

I believe, anyway.

Is there not more to this op? Because if the gift was only a couple of years ago then it's inc in the estate and potentially for tax purposes. Is this why they are asking?

So the situation has turned nasty and they're all fighting like rats in a sack, that's not your problem, do you want to climb into a sack full of rats?
Keep well away, if they want to get their hands on that money they will have to do it through solicitors and they won't want to do that
don't say anything, don't make any comment, don't acknowledge any of their communications

Surely the grandchildren can't do anything unless they take you to court? You don't give it back, that's like giving the grandfather his gift back. The will has to be adhered to unless they contest it. They asked you rather than you get a solicitors letter so it's your decision which in my opinion should be a firm no. Fuck 'em, you can't ignore a grandparent then hope for a fat inheritance. His thing gives me the rage, the love of money and all that

Ignore them! It was a gift.

How do they all even know about it?

I wouldn't give the money back, but I might think about paying back IT if there is any.

I can see why if there is IT to pay it would be annoying for the others that Op's husband has already had money which decreased the overall amount left, plus the tax bill has lessened it yet again.