My mother is 87 and still with a sound mind and body thankfully.

She has a significant amount of cash sitting in savings accounts including £30 K in a stocks and shares ISA. In total she is below the IHT threshold and has no other assets.

She's living in sheltered accommodation and her income easily covers her costs.

She's asked me to gift most of it to her three children and 4 grandchildren while saving a bit for a rainy day. I have an LPA and manage cash on her behalf.

I've looked into the IHT rules and from what I've read, she is allowed to do this.

I'd be very grateful if people on here could confirm that this is correct and that there would be no other implications or consequences.

Any help would would be much appreciated.

Many thanks, TL

don't forget she can gift £3000 per year [£6000 in first year,] without penalty..
personally,[ age 86] I am drawing out small amounts of cash intermittently and passing it on. Who can say where its been spent?
plus small gifts £250 per year to anyone else who wasn't part of the £3000.
anyway, if she is below the threshold, it will simply be added back in when the time comes and as long as its below £325000 in total, all is well

I was in this position with my own mother, over whose affairs I had power of attorney. My bro-in-law made a strong pitch for a distribution to the grandchildren. The difficult bit is trying to foresee the future. Yes, it all seems fine when they're healthy and fit but who knows whether that will last up til death, what problems might arise and how long they might live. In my mother's case, she was fine up until 88, got a bit dotty from then on and developed full-blown dementia before dying at 92. We were able to keep her in her own home with live-in care, and she had the resources to cover that, but had she developed health conditions which required moving her to a residential/medical facility, it could have been a different story. A step-aunt left extremely well-provided for by her husband lived to over 100, bedridden and blind, requiring 24hr nursing care from 3 nurses and exhausted all her resources.

My personal decision was to bite the bullet, pay the IHT and use her own money to make her as comfortable as possible in her final years. I don't think I could have faced myself if we'd got to the point where the remaining money ran out and we were forced to look at cheap alternatives or even turn to the State.

In this case, where the estate is apparently below the IHT threshold anyway, what's the rush? Better safe than sorry IMO.

You don't say whether her property is owned or rented, however her local authority would likely view this as 'deliberate depravation of assets' if she was unable to finance her own care because she had given away all her money. If she has a property with sufficient equity to fund any care needs then this would not be an issue.

If, god forbid, she needs care in the future and she has significant assets, then she will be expected to pay for the care. However, isn't this covered by the state if her assets are below a certain threshold?