Childfree - inheritance

[EmmaEmerald]

Really chaps my ass that people assume if you're childfree you don't want to leave to your money to anyone and therefore have no stake in inheritance tax.

Grr.

It depends on your own circumstances, doesn’t it. Personally I think this is one where I don’t have a lot of skin in the game. I have one nephew, and currently he stands to inherit everything from two parents, one aunt and one uncle, all of whom are at least comfortably off and will leave property. Tbh that’s more than his fair share in the grand scheme of things, and I wouldn’t think he was hard done by if a bit more of it was taxed away.

I don't know if it just circumstances though

I raise it here because of the assumption you must have no one in your life, which childed often make about childfree.

that's the real reason I got annoyed, but hey, I'm 47, I should be used to the criticism of my choice. Most days I just shrug it off. Too much time on MN 😂

but On the principle of it, I paid the government tax already so whoever gets my estate, it's like taking the 40% off the pennies on a dead man's eyes in a way.

There’s a difference between having people in your life and feeling a responsibility to leave them an inheritance, though. Maybe I’m just on the wrong side of the argument though, as I don’t particularly subscribe to the view that inheritance tax is unfair.

I think I know ehat you mean. I never looked into IHT because HMRC will never get anywhere near to my estate when the time comes, but I would assume close relations up to nieces/nephews should be included. Considering the change in people's lifestyles/circumstances over last decades and more people being childfree/childless, it would be logical. Even if peolle have kids, there are no 7+ kids to have just in case so very sadly, they may lose children and take care of relatives instead

Bit confused 😂

7+ kids?

even if I didn't have my sister, my best friend, god daughter and friends are in my will

My flat now above the value, I think if you leave assets worth more than £325,000, and you're not married, the rest is taxable at 40%.

I already paid tax on my earnings, tax when I bought it....don't get me started on taxes and what childfree people are paying for.

if you bought a flat in the South East 20 years ago, and you're single and childfree, you're affected more, because I think spouses are exempt and children get more allowance on the family home.

any inheritance tax allowances should be equal, surely?

i do know a couple who got married in their 70s because of inheritance tax, people kept asking them "why now". 🙄

edit - eye rolling at the people who asked them. We laughed about it but they didn't feel comfortable saying to the questioners "it's about money".

I meant the 7 kids as how it used to be. Make loads so some survive (hard times these were), so now with less kids it can happen people may lose kids. Change in how we live, so it may happen no standard next of kin in tjis sense survives for inheritance purposes. So all for including more relatives in the exempt and lower bands. I went on a tangent there.

I do think unrelated beneficiaries being taxed is fair enough though. Sorry!

If all goes to plan, I will spend every last penny on myself.

If it doesn't, it's going to charity.

I have two godchildren. They might as well have anything that's left.

@Sauerkrautsandwich I have cousins I've never met, it seems mad that they'd get not get taxed but my best mate would.

honestly, I had a chat with my bestie about how we'd get tax breaks if we married each other 😂

Why wouldn't your cousins get taxed?

If your estate is taxable, the only person who wouldn't have to "pay" IHT would be your spouse.

No one has any "skin in the game" when it comes to inheritance tax as you are dead.
Yes you may want to do tax planning but at the end of the day does anyone really care?

Childfree and I don't really care about iht

My nephew will get a huge lump sum when I die.

The top part of that may be 40% lower than it would be without iht but stlll, it's a huge windfall.

Same for me when my parents go, it's just a big windfall that may be a bit smaller with iht.

I far prefer paying iht on windfalls than paying more tax on my income.

I meant under @Sauerkrautsandwich suggestion that there be a list of relatives

AFAIK UK inheritance tax is based on the amount above a certain value, therefore the estate is taxed, not the person. I get that there are exemptions for spouses etc. but in general, if the estate is valued above £X then the balance is taxed at 40% (until the Tories sort out their rich mates and bring it down to 20%).

Anyway, an SNK here (Single No Kids), so I'm leaving a bit to my sibling, and the bulk to my nieces and nephews who have been so good and kind to me all along, through thick and thin. That's the measure I use, not consanguinity.

The important thing is to MAKE A WILL, if you don't want your estate divided amongst those you might not have great time or respect for!

How much of your estate will be property? My mother’s house had doubled in value when she died and she’d only lived there 3 years! She most certainly didnt pay any tax on income in order to fund the purchase.

What even are you complaining about? It’s really not clear.

I was annoyed because there's different rules it seems

pkus another thread was saying "well, if you don't have kids, you won't care". Do we not have loved ones just because we don't have kids.

so children inheriting a family home get a higher amount

why isn't the taxable amount x, regardless of the beneficiaries?

anyone remember the case of three sisters living together in a house and getting no exemption as they died?

i have made a will.

anyway, I can see no one else is bugged so I'll go away now and rant with my bestie who also gets annoyed by this stuff!

If the 3 sisters owners the property as joint tenants then no iht would be due, the house would just belong to the surging sisters.

I can't recall why it was such a problem for them? Bar you can't marry your sister but could marry say your best mate to give them your assets iht free if you want.

I think op is complaining that on a thread about inheritance tax people were saying things such as 'if you don't have children why would this bother you' as if people with children have worked hard and don't 2ant their legacy going to the government but if you don't have children who cares about you and your money.

@EmmaEmerald you are right to find this attitude rude. It’s relevant to everyone.

But their “legacy” doesn’t go to the Government! It goes to the people.

Here it is, two sisters

surviving one had to pay £140k on her own home.

https://cunningtons.co.uk/inheritance-tax-siblings/

@TheValueOfEverything I do think we pay a huge amount of tax for a very long gravy train. "The people" don't get that much benefit from all the taxes we pay.

Ok but while parents don't want their legacy going to the people, they want it going to their children, childfree and childless people also want their money going to their loved ones and not the people and it isn't nice for them to have their opinions or concerns invalidated because they don't have children and so 'shouldnt worry'.

To be fair any statement about "doesn't affect you as your not a parent" is annoying

But i just don't get the angst other have on this topic .

Yes I'd like my nephew to get money when I go. But I haven't been working my whole life to give him a better start or anything.
He'll just get a huge windfall when older. Just feels different to raising kids and supporting them all your life.

And it's either tax now or tax when dead. Someone had to pay the things tax pays for

But their “legacy” does go to their loved ones.

Minus a percentage which goes to the people as taxable income. To pay for GPS, hospitals, schools, roads, etc.

Surely you agree that’s fair. Especially for people who aren’t lucky to receive an inheritance. Or why bother having a tax system and public services at all?