To ask if you’re likely to inherit much?

[WimblesThimbles]

Anyone else not really got any generational wealth to speak of?

I have £30k in savings for a house deposit, currently rent and I’m nearly 40. Not much likelihood of a lottery win and no generational wealth to come into.

I feel like all my friends have had a financial head start through some type of either financial gift or inheritance.

Anyone else like me, and just going it alone?!

Together with my cousin and sister I was left a third share of my grandad’s estate but his daughter, my aunt and cousin’s mum, took exception to this and tore up his will and burned it.

Likely to inherit £2m across both families. Both families were reasonably high earners and my parents were very frugal. Their estate is work around £5m right now and they have a six figure from my dads pension plus state pension (abroad so it’s much higher than UK). It might go on care fees but at this point they are still saving substantially (over 70 both) so realistically my sibling and I will have significant inheritance. I hope they spend it though, DH and I have a relatively small mortgage and save 20-25% in pensions so unlikely to need it.

I bought my first house with no inheritance and have moved up the ladder without significant help but yes, eventually I will inherit. I don’t know exactly how much but circa £750k from both parents combined (they are divorced so have separate finances and homes).

I’ll likely be retired by then so it will largely go to DD and should mean I can make sure she is well provided for.

Yes. Possibly up to £500k from DH & my combined parents, assuming no care home fees (which is what it currently looks like being).
I have absolutely no idea what we will do with it; it almost feels like something I just need to sort out for the kids - don’t imagine that DH & I will do much with it, other than prep it for passing on to our 4 children & various younger-generation folk for house deposits).
it’s a very strange feeling.

Not a sausage. Parents died years ago, but there wasn't anything to inherit.

Depending on how much care my parents need (they are both frail now) yes I do stand to inherit quite a lot though I don't know exactly how much. My parents have two properties plus investments so unless care fees wipe it all out I expect to inherit around 500k unless they also leave some to my kids.

Yes, 200k.

Very sad as it comes with a huge emotional ties, so spending it comes with an angst at what my parents would think.

I think a lottery win would be more fun to spend, and would likely go on fun stuff. As it is, it's going on sensible things.

DH likely to have slightly less.

Unless it needs to be sold to pay for care, I expect that I’ll inherit a 50% share of my parents property - in the current market it’s worth about £150,000. I don’t expect to inherit soon. They’re both in their early 70s, fit and active, and no significant health issues.

My in law’s estate will be inherited by DH and I’ll benefit from that too, but I won’t be the beneficiary. I also don’t expect that any time soon, same reason.

Probably around 100k so nothing crazy, but definitely helpful. Possibly around 500k from another relative but there are so many ‘what-ifs’ there that I certainly wouldn’t count on it. OH looks to gain around 150k.

I Inherited £10k from my mum’s life insurance policy and will probably inherit similar from my dad when he goes but they lived in social housing so no property or other estate.

I do have an aunt in Australia who has done very well for herself. She and her wife have no children of their own so they are planning to leave everything to us nieces and nephews, there are 5 of us in total. They are late 70’s and early 80’s but I’m hoping they’ve got a good few years left in them yet to enjoy their retirement.

My children are much more likely to benefit, as I do have a property and pension to leave to them, particularly my daughter as I was 41 when I had her so she’ll likely still be relatively young when I die but I’m sure she’d rather keep me as long as possible.

You’re not alone. No inheritance. My mom died when I was 19, with crippling debt (and in a housing association home) I had to raise my younger siblings, as the eldest. The housing association let me take over the tenency, as we already lived in the home and I was old enough. My dad wasn’t present in my life, but he was a well off man who married a woman and they never had anymore children. I recently discovered he died a couple of years ago, and no. No inheritance from him either. His money is now his wife’s, and she didn’t like me (because she wasn’t able to have children of her own, she resented me and was jealous of my mom. She’s the reason he stayed away) Not that I was expecting any, but you know.
I still live in my housing association home, siblings have all grown up and moved on to uni ect, but I’ve got nothing to my name and never will.
It’s just the way it is for some of us unfortunately OP.

Same here. We had about enough to cover the funerals.

I did inherit a decent amount (house plus investmentw) but only because both of my parents died whilst they were fairly young. Mum at 55, and Dad at 68. I'm also an only child, and my dad was very a very frugal saver. If they'd lived longer and needed care, then I doubt there would've been much.

We will inherit around £2m in total from parents however as they were young when both DH and I were born it is likely that we’ll be well into our 60’s if not older when that happens so we’ll likely deviate to DS.

Our DS is an only child and was born when we were 50/44 so he’ll likely inherit from us when he is maybe 40. Our siblings don’t have children which means that he has 3 aunts/uncles who will also leave everything to him. They are all 50+ years older than him and all own property and other assets.

It means that he will likely end up with a huge sum in early adulthood rising further by his 30’s or early 40’s. I estimate c£5m.

In many ways it’s a strange concept to us as we will reach retirement ourselves having never received a penny from anyone. We live in a normal 3 bed semi and lead a very average lifestyle. His life will be very different to ours.

Nothing from my family, although may inherit a modest amount from parents one day, depending on care needs.
Very fortunate that we’ve been helped by big chunks of money from my in laws over the last 20+ years.
If I was single though I’d be in the same position as you.

I will inherit from my uncle, but don’t know if there will be anything should he need care in his later years.

my dad has told me that he’s left everything to the grandchildren, but one of my siblings doesn’t have any children so I’m not sure if they’ll inherit and I won’t as it’ll go to my kids or what will happen. I’m not about to start asking questions.

Dh will inherit from his dad, he just has to wait until his stepmother dies which could be another 30 years as she was younger than FIL. By which point dh, if he’s still alive, will be in his 80’s. If he’s no longer here it will pass to our children. We’re pretty sure though that the stepmother will make sure that he inherits nothing if she can find a way to make that happen.

High six figures, but it will require some hard work

Fuck all. It's all currently going on care. Which is apparently "social", even though they'd die without it - designating it as such is just a convenient fiction to cover prior and current governments' failure to make provision for the now elderly who previously throughout their working lives handed over their tax and NI on the false promise of "cradle to grave".

Watching how they pinch every penny from you certainly has informed my own creative attitude to savings. I'll have nothing on paper by the time I take state pension.

I've had three inheritances so far, likely there'll be one or two more in years to come. We're quite unusual as a family as there are/were several relatives who never married or had kids so the money funneled down to me and my siblings.

Yes that is unusual.

For anyone else reading who is in more usual circumstances, please pay attention.

If you have anything less than £1m in assets you will get absolutely clobbered by galloping care costs should you be fortunate enough to reach an age of frailty.

If you have over £1m you'll be fine.

But less, it will all go.

Better to have nothing, at least on paper. How you work that out is up to you. But if you're 55+ start working it out now. Start diverting, start buying, do anything you can, legally. The rich have been given a head start on you and have established means at their disposal. But, you have options available to you too. You just need to keep a clear head and find whatever avenue you can.

And you should. Because FFS you've paid enough, in income tax, council tax, vat etc. Way more, proportionally, than the average millionaire. The people you've been handing your money over to have made poor choices with those public funds and now they can't pay care workers apparently but don't let them pin those costs on you. You keep your money where you can, don't let them strip you, let them find it from someone else.

From DH's side, we don't expect anything. His family is a bit complicated. His Dad isn't in the best of health and so his home may well need to be sold for care fees. If there is anything, it will probably be split between DH and his 2 stepbrothers (that we have no direct relationship with). Despite being close to his stepdad (mum's 2nd husband), Stepdad also has his own biological kids so I doubt DH will be included in a will, and he may also need care. Dh's mum's DH#3 is 14 years younger than his mum, and tbf, while they have a very nice lifestyle now, they built their wealth together, and so it will rightly be left to him. I've no idea if he would then bequeath anything in DH's/our kids' direction.

My family is much simpler. My dad has savings and a mortgage-free house in the Southeast worth about $500K. If it is not needed for care, then it will be split between my brother and me (our mum died in 2011).

I'd rather he lived to a ripe old age and spent his money on enjoying his life, spoiling his grandkids and "fast living and loose women". (That last one will never happen, he remains devoted to my mum's memory <3 )

Assuming no care home fees (they are 82 and almost 80) my parents house is worth £1.5m plus - I have multiple siblings so assuming they split it equally we are looking at maybe £250k each from my side.

DH’s mum and dad (divorced) live in £1m plus homes - he’s n/c with his dad so would expect nothing from him - and has a sibling who I assume his mum will split anything with.
She may also leave it to a cats home (DH has seen the will and the kids will be fine I believe)
we have had nothing at all from any of them.

This is all academic though because DH’s mother lives a days drive away and is really unpleasant and awkward so were she to become ill or need care it would have to be paid for out of her savings and her home. There’s no guarantee DH would get anything from his father (who remarried and had another son) Mine are local to us but I don’t think any of us are in a position or have a desire to provide care for them should they need it beyond taking them out, having them over for meals and going to various appointments. They are quite selfish and maybe the one thing we all inherited was that gene ?

Nothing from my side. Both Dads passed
away very soon after retiring, my mother got a very small lump sum and monthly payment from his pension. Not sure what MIL got. My MIL owns her house so potentially there will be something to split three ways with that. My mother seems to have spent everything they made from selling a house a long time
ago on holidays and shoes! I don’t expect or want anything from her anyway, I’d rather she left it to our DD. I have several friends who just seem to get inheritance after inheritance from likes of great aunties and godmothers etc which get spent on lavish holidays but there’s nothing like that in our families 🤷‍♀️

I’m set to inherit an extensive collection of Lladro and Capo Di Monte. That’s it. The family is enormous, and has been for generations (Irish Catholic) so inheritance was never a thing really cos it all got split.

My own 3 children however will pick up 3 million each, as that’s what the insurance and estate is on me and my ex husband, if we die almost simultaneously. This worries me as they’d spend it all on X-bucks and Pokémon so it’s held by trustees until they’re 25.