THE talk at this month’s meeting was a revisit to the subject of wills and inheritance tax, not normally a subject of great joy but for a retired gentlemen’s club one of greater importance as the days go by.

Our speaker, Bejar Shah, called his talk “Estate planning, tax, care and toy boys, threats to inheritance”.

He started with inheritance tax, what it is and how much. The threshold was raised this year from £325,000 incrementally to £500,000 by 2020.

Bejar moved on to planning for care. At the moment care fees are means-tested and people with more than £23,000 must pay these fees.

When planning for care, he suggested that tenants in common rather than joint ownership of property was a better option, bearing in mind that 150 houses a day are sold to cover care costs.

He then covered the case where a surviving spouse remarries.

The final part of the talk covered powers of attorney. There was a major change in legislation in 2007 and I would think several of the audience went scurrying home to check the date and signatures on their own documents.

Altogether a thought-
provoking subject, which will no doubt be repeated in a couple of years’ time.