my dad has a substantial amount of money in the home.

[carnetta]

Looking for some advice.

My father who is 84, and has a substantial amount of money in the home well over £120k. He worked all his life and was self employed for much of it, had an accountant and paid taxes etc, one could question if some of this money had been cash in hand work over the years or just money he has put aside or both and I honestly couldn't say and have no idea how I could prove what this money is if asked, I only found this hoard recently when decorating his home, to say I was shocked is some what of an understatement.

I'm not sure what to do, simply I want it to be put in a bank account so it is safe and I'm not worrying about it, and couldn't give a monkeys if it is taxed etc.

He is at a point in his life where communication can be really difficult at the best of times due to a stroke a few years ago, so he would really struggle with legal people, but I'm happy to be involved as best as I can.

I just don't know what to do for the best, or who to turn too. My dad has this money as some kind of weird safety net for "when he gets old" !!!!

Last thing I want to do is open up a can of worms and cause him any stress.

Thoughts please.

Completely agree in him being shortsighted here, unfortunately he is old school bloke and lives in the past and just to say he has paid taxes and NI over his very long working life, but questionable if this has all been declared or if it really is all his money or probably a bit of both I think. It certainly would have been much smarter to have put this money in the bank or invested somewhere over the years, it would likely have been worth more anyway and no stress.

But whats done is done, so now its a case of working out what if anything we can do to make it right.

I wouldn't bother with a bank. Maybe encourage him to put it into the house and gardens/drive and pay in cash. I don't see the problem here really. Cash is king.

I think I would get him a safe in the meantime. Just in case of burglary.

Leaving aside the potential moral / tax issues and focussing on handling the cash:

We had to deal with around £50k cash that my mum randomly accumulated and didn't want any aggravation just trying to bank it.

First thing we did was split the cash three ways between myself, mum and brother to minimise risk of burglary or fire etc.

Then we started spending it which was very odd as we never use cash normally! Brother and I both crystal clear that we each owed mum £15k so we then paid for things for her as and when required eg stairlift, dentist expenses, anything expensive where cash wasn't practical.

We all occasionally banked the odd £200 in our own and kids accounts as well and also used cash to buy gift cards which we could spend online.

Took us 3 years to get through it all one way or another.

My mother has a box of money at home. She emptied her credit union savings and gets her pension in cash.
She gets her private pension into her bank account.
The reason?
a. She doesn't want them ie government to know how much money she has.
b. She doesn't want this cash to form part of her estate when she dies because it will mean sharing it with my siblings. She wants to give it all to one sibling out of sheer spite to the rest of us but on the quiet but we all know!
My siblings and I have agreed all cash is split 7 ways. The house is going to the youngest as per her will.

I would say nothing and just start spending it! Is it going to be going to you anyway?

I must admit I was shocked by the amount, but ignoring that it is actually quite normal for the elderly to squirrel away large amounts of money. I worked as a Cashier in a bank and we were often brought in piles (25k was normal) of old £50 notes when elderly relatives have died / or their relatives have found it.

I would make an appointment at a bank and have a chat with the bank manager and work out a plan for paying it in.

Spend it. There's literally no way in hell it's not going to raise flags and probate will be a ball ache as a result. Spend it, split it if possible.

Does he know you've found it, presumably if you found it easily then others could to

Well its tempting to have a spend up of course, but its not my money and my time will come when he does pop his clogs.. Chances are he will outlive me of course, and then it will go to my kids who will need it more than I do.

My friend’s mil had over £30k ( they stopped counting) lying round the house after she died.
Friend’s dh is very savvy and I think it went on a car and some holidays.
If you don’t want to arouse suspicion after his death just pay part cash for large purchases.

As it’s your df’s money it’s not up to you to alert anyone, it’s his business.

Yes its all out in the open now, it has been moved in different places and much more securely in case of theft, fire and wandering eyes. He would never let anyone in the house and know we know why.

You can still get power of attorney fur when he won’t be able to do all that.
Actually NOW is the time to do it. Because when he won’t be seen as competent anymore, he won’t seem as competent to sign a PoA

"cash is king" sounds just like something he would say.

Thats all been taken care of now.. and very secure and spread around.

He's right. Your father is a very wise man. You'd be mad to declare this after his death. It would go against the whole reason he saved it in the first place. I'd be turning in my grave if that happened to me.

Bless him! Can you not persuade him to get new carpets or house decorated or a new bed etc to start getting rid of some? Or gift the kids a few grand each?

My Gran used to hide money in books. After she died we had to check all her books and she had hundreds of them. Lots of money was found but nowhere near £120k. Could you get him to use some of it for living then quietly put £3k into the bank every other month until it is all in?

Or there was a fire, then he'd lose it all.

Tell him his contents insurance probably won't provide enough cover for that amount of cash kept in the house.
Also that there's no pockets in a shroud.

If he's happy to, it's time he enjoys his money. No need letting it rot or letting the bank spend it for him. I'd spend the money on him, his home, any comforts and mod cons, caretaker, etc and pay cash each time until you run out of things to do for him. Then you can begin thinking of what to do with the rest if it's left...OR you spend some more. Use for his day-to-day shopping and activities.

Just keep receipt of everything you spend/buy.