Inheritance Tax Scotland

[disney332]

Originally Posted by Pumba75

OP, firstly let me extend condolences on your loss -I hope you and the family are doing ok.

Secondly, Colette is spot on here.

As well-meaning as it may be, there are a couple of bits of information already on this thread that aren't strictly accurate.

Please get professional advice before doing anything - a mistake at this stage could end up being costly.

See more...

Interested to know what information is not accurate in your opinion. Any chance you can expand upon your reply?

OP - Yes see a qualified professional, expert in Scottish Law.

Disney332

[janeg88]

Yes I know advice from strangers of the Internet is not always accurate, although its a very good starting point and often brings information that you haven't been aware off, and then gives you the opportunity to check the fine print.

Thanks again folks, I've a list of things to do when 9 o'clock comes.

[janeg88]

Just a little update, it seems dad and the family solicitor was very much on the ball a few years ago.

Mums share of the house now goes into a trust fund until dad dies. This means only half the house can be used for care home fees.

All the rest of mums estate passes to dad, but we have two options as described by other posters.

I can either put a claim in for 1/3 of mums estate, or we can do a deed of variation as disneyy332 describes, this is the route we plan to take.

Also a large bulk of the money is invested in a personal investment plan, that doesn't need to be included in the sum total of mums assets. This has lost money since last year due to Covid but is still a substantial amount.


IF IHT remains the same we will fall into that bracket by 100000 or so, but its not as bad as I first thought.

Thanks for everyones input

[disney332]

Originally Posted by janeg88

Just a little update, it seems dad and the family solicitor was very much on the ball a few years ago.

Mums share of the house now goes into a trust fund until dad dies. This means only half the house can be used for care home fees.

All the rest of mums estate passes to dad, but we have two options as described by other posters.

I can either put a claim in for 1/3 of mums estate, or we can do a deed of variation as disneyy332 describes, this is the route we plan to take.

Also a large bulk of the money is invested in a personal investment plan, that doesn't need to be included in the sum total of mums assets. This has lost money since last year due to Covid but is still a substantial amount.


IF IHT remains the same we will fall into that bracket by 100000 or so, but its not as bad as I first thought.

Thanks for everyones input

See more...

So pleased that you are getting sorted.

For anyone interested, you have 2 years from date of death to execute a deed of variation for IHT avoidance.

Perfectly legal, perfectly acceptable but sadly often overlooked.

On the subject of leaving half your property in trust for the survivor to enjoy for the remainder of his or her lifetime as in the OP case, it is necessary to look at how the house to owned and the majority of the time you will have joint ownership. Your solicitor on re-writing your will, needs to sever the joint ownership and create a.50% each ownership known as tenants in common. Failure to do this at the land registry will mean upon death, the survivor automatically inherits the whole asset which is the same as any other jointly held asset with your spouse such as a joint bank account.

Disney332