We’re not greedy, just ordinary home owners
Speaking as someone who hasn’t even got around to writing my will yet, I was pleased to learn there’s going to be a simplification of the inheritance tax system, because that means the new version will be explained in bullet points and I can catch up then.
At the moment, the whole thing looks ridiculously complicated, what with annual allowances and shifting thresholds and some gifts being made tax-free after seven years and my head is already beginning to ache.
Which is probably a sign that it’s time I pulled it out of the sand and got my finances in proper order on all fronts. The will thing is long overdue and, with two children, I really need to get it sorted. It’s not due to any deeply felt reluctance – I’m Irish and we’re not squeamish about mortality – just sheer I’ll-get-round-to-it-eventually incompetence, which really isn’t good enough, because in my family, I’m supposed to be the grown-up. That two thirds of the adult population are in the same position will be scant consolation for my grieving clan if I die intestate.
Similarly, if I don’t get advice on how to minimise death duties, I’m not doing the best I can by them. I’ll confess to being a little conflicted on the
matter. I believe in paying tax on what I earn (if only big corporations felt the same), so why do I baulk at the Treasury taking its 40 per cent cut when my husband and I die?
Somehow, this feels different. Like most parents, we want to pass on the family home to our children. Like many people in London, we’re nominally asset-rich due to rising property values that are entirely beyond our control.
Whatever it’s eventually worth, our bog-standard Victorian terrace is our lifetime’s investment, an investment in our girls’ future.
Assuming we manage to pay off the mortgage, it will be all we have to give them, and I’d prefer some transparency about how – and, indeed, if – we can safeguard their legacy.
I don’t know anyone who could afford to buy their own house at today’s prices. We’re not a greedy property-owning class, just ordinary home owners.
I sincerely hope the Government won’t use this “simplification” as a stealth raid on my children’s inheritance.
‘Like most parents, we want to pass on the family house to our children’