Mirror Wills but died within ten days

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Hello knowledgeable legal gurus. I wonder if you can advise. I am executor for my mother and fathers Wills. They had mirror wills. They died 6 weeks ago but it's taken time to be able to face all this. However, it's not just me who inherits so I need to put my chin up and crack on.

The property is worth about £650k. Money and assets about £30k.

So far , so straightforward. (I have done this before so have a general idea but the last one was far below any IHT questions) . Anyway. Mum died leaving everything to Dad . Ten days later Dad died. Each Will says that if one does not survive the other by one calendar month then he will not be entitled to any part of her estate and clause 3 of the Will (where their children inherit everything ) comes into effect.

My question is this. I am afraid I know the answer but need to check. Because dad died so soon after mum he didn't actually inherit anything. ? Which means there is no asset to Will - but also no inheritance tax allowance either ? Meaning IHT payable at £500k solely on Mums estate ?
That's quite a heavy blow when split between 7 . Have I got that right.

Did they jointly own the property? If so their share would presumably be half the value? If you leave property to children then the threshold is raised to £500k not £325k which means if they each have that amount allowance then you should be under the threshold.

If not and it was all in your mum's name then you only pay tax on anything over the threshold so you'd get the first £500k no tax then you'd pay 40% on anything over and above that.

I think that both of them will have 50 % of the property in there own right
and whether joint tenants they both own 100% in which case your dad owned 100% on his death but as they were married their allowance is transferrable or tenants in common ( 50/50)
so for your Dad if joint tenants he then owned 100% of property on his wife's death, if they were tenants in common your dad already owned 50% but didn't inherit your mum's 50% because he did not live long enough
either way if your dad held 100% at his death your mum's allowance is transferrable, if he owned 50% both have an allowance so either way I do not think there is much tax to pay but I'm not a lawyer and you need one

So sorry for your loss.

The original ownership of the assets is a good point, in that you're probably actually dealing with two estates, not a single estate of the whole house and savings. So the value of each estate should be smaller and each will have an inheritance tax allowance.

I found this page which explains the difference between 'joint tenants' and 'tenants in common', and survivorship:

www.thegazette.co.uk/wills-and-probate/content/103797

It says that if it's joint tenants, then ownership automatically passes to the surviving owner(s) upon the death of one owner. That sounds like (and I'm not a lawyer) it happens regardless of the contents of the will. So your father's death less than a month after your mother wouldn't be relevant for the property ownership, because full ownership would have automatically passed to him upon your mother's death.

Tenants in common means each owner has a specific % share of the property, which will form part of their individual estates. In this case, your mother's % wouldn't pass to your father because he died within one month. But on the other hand, your father's % would be included in your father's estate, not your mother's.

I'm sorry for your loss.

If your parents were joint tenants, the house automatically became your father's when your mother died independently of anything it says in her will. Your mother's unused inheritance tax allowance can be used against his estate.

However, as they had mirror wills it is likely they were tenants in common. If that is the case, they each owned 50% of the house, so your father's estate includes his 50% of the property.

Either way, you have both inheritance tax allowances available to use. As the property is being left to their direct descendants, the residence nil rate band is also available. There will be no IHT to pay.

I have been hoping and praying for my favourite legal guru to appear. Thank you so much !

So the fact that the Will says 'if he should not survive me by one calendar month.. ' does not make any difference to IHT allowance ? That is such a relief.

We read it as ; Mum died . Left everything to Dad. But he didn't inherit because of dying a fortnight later.. therefore the only estate is Mums which reverts to the kids. But then only her allowance can be used plus the £175k for passing to direct descendants.
Meaning a IHT of £72k simply for losing them both together.

Thank you again . Not just for this but for all the amazing help you and your lawyer colleagues give on this board.

We read it as ; Mum died . Left everything to Dad. But he didn't inherit because of dying a fortnight later.. therefore the only estate is Mums which reverts to the kids.

That would be the case if the house was 100% owned by your mother. But presumably they both owned the house? You need to find out how the ownership was apportioned.

Sorry for your loss. Having done Dh and my mirror will recently, I hadn't even considered this.

Phew . House owned by both parents as joint tenants. Thanks all. x

Hi OP

given what you just said, presume that the same issue applies, only the whole house is in your father’s estate.

Inheritance tax allowance is fully transferable to the surviving spouse, it's one of the biggest benefits of marriage these days. It's one of the reasons we need to consider it

Since the house went to OP's father automatically, her mother used little if any of her nil rate band. That can therefore be transferred to her father. Her mother also did not make any use of the residence nil rate band. That can also be transferred to her father. Her father therefore has a total of £1M nil rate band (less any nil rate band used by her mother), so no IHT will be payable.

You'd be ok even if tenants in common as you'd only have inherited the 50% your mum owned, then separately the 50% your dad owned.

Thanks everyone I have finally got my head around the 'property' issue mentioned in the Will. I read it as 'all mums property to go to dad unless he dies within a month.. thinking that 'property' related to the house. When in fact it was never hers to 'will' as she had never owned individually and that as a joint owner the house automatically goes to the surviving joint owner (dad) .. regardless of any will.

So mum had some jewellery worth about 10k and all other money is in joint accounts. Therefore Mum can transfer her entire allowance to Dad and dad can use his own . Giving a total of £1m less £10k. IHT Allowance .

Got there in the end. Thanks for everyone's knowledge. Really appreciated.
The HMRC forms are going to be fun !