Early Risers.

[Happy Hippo]

Good morning one and all and welcome home to Is.

 

.  Out of bed just after 4 am, short hot wallow, yogurt and fruit cocktail 

Chris,

 

Never thought of that combo for a wallow.

 

Mine's always cold and muddy!

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all.

 

Like HH I sort of misread Chris' comment about his wallow - and wondered how he'd managed to acquire that much yogurt?

 

Now to practical matters for the possible benefit of Rick.  Mitigation of Death Duties - sorry to mention it, but ..., - is sometimes relatively simple albeit with a possible snag.  What we did with my parent's home was alter it from joint ownership to tenants in common and also arrange their wills so that the first to go left their share to me.  Thus when my mother died my father and I became the tenants in common jointly owning the property, and when he died 18 months later I became the sole owner (I'm an only child).  Provided the value of the property is less than 50% of the level that incurs Death Duties this means that you mitigate your exposure to Death Duties assessed on the value of the property although obviously any wider part of the deceased's estate pushes the figure up and might still be liable.  In our case the property would, on then values, have been liable if I had inherited 100% of the value of it from my father but because I didn't it wasn't within the Death Duties band.

 

The catch in doing this is thus - if you (and your sister) become tenants in common of 50% of the property when the first parent goes that share of the property becomes your asset and should you suffer a marriage breakdown and divorce its value will be taken into account in the divorce settlement so it might mean having to sell the property thus putting your surviving parent out of their home.  Assuming there's no risk of such an event then it's not a bad way of doing things and it is a perfectly legitimate way of mitigating exposure to Death Duty - in my case I was very careful to check with the tax people when I completed the IHT205 form following my father's death and that was confirmed by them.  The other possible advantage of such an arrangement is if the surviving parent has to go into a home and the local authority demands sale of the property to fund their care because then they can achieve no more than 50% of the sale price and the other tenants get the other 50%.  If the property is solely owned by the surviving parent then 100% of its value is at risk of being used to fund care costs.  

 

There's  also one other catch - while you might avoid Death Duties on the property if you sell it once you have full ownership any 'profit' on share  (i.e. an increase in the assessed value between the time you inherited half of it and the time you inherited the other half) is liable to Capital Gains Tax (although this might be avoided if you actually live in the property, not sure on that one). 

 

Sorry to mention less than pleasant practicalities but more than enough tax is taken from us nowadays so I don't see anything wrong with mitigating exposure to it (provided it's legal to do so of course).

 

Have a good day every body, I think laddo might be taking me to a  little model railway exhibition in Wallingford

[Tony_S]

A few days ago I was wondering about the various county slogans. Now the BBC have answered ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36258718

Most of the Essex signs just state Welcome to Essex.

[Coombe Barton]

The hayfield calls ...

[AndyB]

Most of the Essex signs just state Welcome to Essex.

 

Let tyrants fear  

[Ohmisterporter]

I hated the Lancashire slogan A place where everybody matters. It sounded like we all had some awful disease.

[AndyB]

Morning all,

Good to hear that Is is home and tuned in to Classic FM. 

Just sent a request in for Dave & Is from all of us. Not sure they do heavy metal though, Dave. 

 

Father's Day beckons and although this would normally be a day dedicated to working on the layout I'm not really in the mood. 

A nice card from each of the children and some chocolates. 

I understand that there will be a fry-up brunch and the recent Dad's Army film will be screened. 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I also had a good wallow this morning, but not in yoghurt I hasten to add. Looks like a good day here so a bit of attention to the garden is on the agenda. Have a good day all, be back later.

[NGT6 1315]

I hated the Lancashire slogan A place where everybody matters. It sounded like we all had some awful disease.

I initially read that as "where everybody mates." Ahem...

 

Afternoon all, just. Bit of tidying up done, now for a nap in preparation for FiL's belated birthday barbecue tonight. Nothing of real importance happened on this end, so, enjoy your Sunday...

[Coombe Barton]

The hayfield calls ...

 

 

The hayfield's winning at the moment ...

[Tony_S]

I have finished the summerhouse aka big shed woodstain treatment.

I ache in places I didn't know one could ache. So Aditi suggested I soaked in the bath and add some gardeners muscle ache bath salts she had acquired. I don't know how effective such things are but the main ingredient seems to be eucalyptus. Fortunately we don't have koalas in Essex so I should be safe.

[Donw]

Morning all.

 

Like HH I sort of misread Chris' comment about his wallow - and wondered how he'd managed to acquire that much yogurt?

 

Now to practical matters for the possible benefit of Rick.  Mitigation of Death Duties - sorry to mention it, but ..., - is sometimes relatively simple albeit with a possible snag.  What we did with my parent's home was alter it from joint ownership to tenants in common and also arrange their wills so that the first to go left their share to me.  Thus when my mother died my father and I became the tenants in common jointly owning the property, and when he died 18 months later I became the sole owner (I'm an only child).  Provided the value of the property is less than 50% of the level that incurs Death Duties this means that you mitigate your exposure to Death Duties assessed on the value of the property although obviously any wider part of the deceased's estate pushes the figure up and might still be liable.  In our case the property would, on then values, have been liable if I had inherited 100% of the value of it from my father but because I didn't it wasn't within the Death Duties band.

 

The catch in doing this is thus - if you (and your sister) become tenants in common of 50% of the property when the first parent goes that share of the property becomes your asset and should you suffer a marriage breakdown and divorce its value will be taken into account in the divorce settlement so it might mean having to sell the property thus putting your surviving parent out of their home.  Assuming there's no risk of such an event then it's not a bad way of doing things and it is a perfectly legitimate way of mitigating exposure to Death Duty - in my case I was very careful to check with the tax people when I completed the IHT205 form following my father's death and that was confirmed by them.  The other possible advantage of such an arrangement is if the surviving parent has to go into a home and the local authority demands sale of the property to fund their care because then they can achieve no more than 50% of the sale price and the other tenants get the other 50%.  If the property is solely owned by the surviving parent then 100% of its value is at risk of being used to fund care costs.  

 

There's  also one other catch - while you might avoid Death Duties on the property if you sell it once you have full ownership any 'profit' on share  (i.e. an increase in the assessed value between the time you inherited half of it and the time you inherited the other half) is liable to Capital Gains Tax (although this might be avoided if you actually live in the property, not sure on that one). 

 

Sorry to mention less than pleasant practicalities but more than enough tax is taken from us nowadays so I don't see anything wrong with mitigating exposure to it (provided it's legal to do so of course).

 

Have a good day every body, I think laddo might be taking me to a  little model railway exhibition in Wallingford

 

Wise advise Mike. It is possible to leave the share of the property to someone with the condition of the spouse having a right to live there for the rest of there life so even if (god forbid) you have a fatal accident your kids or more likely their guardian could not turf the elderly parent out. It can be tricky for a guardian they have a duty to the children not the elderly parent.

The divorce business is more tricky. Even marriages that seem fine can suddenly fall apart. Probably the best way if you think that is a strong possibility is to leave it so the son or daughter can enjoy any income from the asset but the asset is held in trust for the grandchildren.

Obviously these need need some legal advice but if you know what to ask for it helps.

 

Mal I feel very sorry for you it can be difficult if you feel your relationship with your father was not good. A relative by marriage had a troubled relationship with his father. It was not helped when the father left the bulk of his estate to his wife and a property in Spain to his youngest daughter and minor things to the other four children. It is a very cruel thing to do as you cannot even discuss it with them afterwards. It may be in some way your father felt guilty at surviving when his brother died and this was his way of trying to make amends for that. 

It is as well to remember that no one has a right to inherit unless they are still dependant on the person and that foolish people can leave their money foolishly or unkindly. 

Don

[DDolfelin]

First of all let me say I never met the person so there is no personal loss involved but:

The Police called at our friends' house (almost our closest neighbour) in the early hours to tell them their son (40s) had been found dead in his home.

No suspicious circumstances.

He was due to come for Fathers Day today.

They are wrecked of course. No warning that he had any health problems.

SWMBO with them now and I'm waiting for his sister to arrive to tell her the news.

It's not been a good year, and now certainly not for them.

[Coombe Barton]

Offering support where it's needed doesn't have to relate only to personal loss - and it's offered here.

Edited June 19, 2016 by Coombe Barton

[Simon G]

A mixed day so far. I woke up with a sore throat and generally feeling a bit carp. However, both sons had remembered Fathers Day, so I was pleased to get cards from them, one of which was a postcard from the Algarve, as no 2 son was on holiday there this week.

 

Mrs G and I did go for a walk this morning to see if I felt any better for it. I did feel a bit better so continued outside with some gardening, until the rain came. Now settled watching the Grand Prix.

[Purley Oaks]

 

Mal I feel very sorry for you it can be difficult if you feel your relationship with your father was not good.  It may be in some way your father felt guilty at surviving when his brother died and this was his way of trying to make amends for that. 

It is as well to remember that no one has a right to inherit unless they are still dependant on the person and that foolish people can leave their money foolishly or unkindly. 

Don

Hi Don

 

Thanks for your wise words. I totally agree with you last sentence, although I do think that family wealth, if any, should be passed on for the future of that family. His mother was affected very badly by the elder son's death which is why she insisted that Alister not leave home, even after he got married. Course he should have left and set up home with his new wife, my mum, but didn't (they could have lived in the same street), and that led to the disintegration of the marriage. Even though my mum left him, he was found to be the guilty party by desertion, even after his failed appeal.

 

When chatting to him last year he was still vitriolic about his ex-wife after 60 years. That kind of hatred takes some nurturing and he should have been well over it by then. I feel that he should have been looking to the future of his family more than to the past.

 

Mal

[Smiffy2]

 

BREAKING NEWS: Polish fans have been on the rampage in Nice (France). So far more than 100 cars have been valeted and waxed, 50 boilers repaired and 5 walls built.

 

 

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Raining here now, after an iffy start to the day which certainly affected the attendance at the local car boot sales today.  All three that we visited were very sparse, both buyers and sellers.

 

Great news there from Dave, and I hope that the routine is starting to work for you both. 

 

Sorry to hear that some ERs are feeling pretty carp, I am as well. having picked up a bug from 30747 who picked it up from one of mummy's little darlings who should have stayed at home.  So generic greetings to all who are ailing. 

 

Fathers' day never meant anything to us as we haven't got any kids.

 

Now just waiting for the builder to show up this afternoon to get the downstairs cloakroom back into action.  Got a text from him earlier to say that he had a flat tyre on his van and he's just rung to say it's going to be late afternoon now before he gets to me.  I suppose I'm lucky that he can come at a weekend anyway, so I don't complain too much.

 

Back later/tomorrow.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[DDolfelin]

Thanks for the supportive ticks.

 

One heck of an afternoon.

I'm sure my shirt will shrink from shed tears.

Hope I was able to help a little.

[newbryford]

Father's Day for me has been tidying up at wife's work and then work driving. I did receive a card from Junior when I visited the other day - it was in the form of a free debit card with her name on, but "Bank of Dad" as the issuer......... (I'm sure she means well.)

GP is on record so I'm staying away from any radio or TV until 4.30 when C4's program finishes. By the time I've finished editing the pics and posting this, it should be finished.

 

Meanwhile part 2 of the London town trip.

 

Blackfriars railway bridge showing the piers for the original bridge. Apparently they were so well fixed down, removing them would have disturbed the foundations for the "new" bridge...

 

The onto the London Eye with a couple more railway connected shots.

South with Waterloo station in the middle. The pointy building is Strata Towers, nicknamed The Razor. When it was built, it picked up the ugliest building award in the form of "Carbuncle of the Year" in 2010

 

We managed to avoid the showers for most of the day, but as can be seen on a few photos, nothing we could do about the raindrops on the outside of the glass.

Hungerford Bridge leading into Charing Cross station.

 

At the side of Hungerford Bridge are the two parallel Golden Jubille bridge walkways, affording this upstream view of The Eye and The Palace of Westminster.

 

Then it was on to my first trip on the Docklands Light Railway.

This was the view from the front seat as we climbed out of the tunnels from Bank station

 

It runs parallel to the line to/from Fenchurch Street.

 

We eventually ended up at North Greenwich and took advantage of a discounted fare (with our London travelcard) on the Emirates Air Line cable car across the river

 

The Thames Barrier can be seen downstream

 

Looking back to the Millenium Dome, now known as the O2 Arena (I was there with Junior NB a couple of months ago to watch Muse)

 

Royal Victoria Dock with a very large private yacht - the Excel exhibition centre is on the far left side of the dock. The white things in the dock are on the next pic. Some rather nice dockside apartments on the right

 

There was a wakeboard training facility with an overhead winch to drag people along.

 

And finally a gratuitous railway pic - a pair of Class 90s at Liverpool Street. (I quite like the shape of 90s).

On the right is my train with 90015 "Colchester Castle". On the left is 90034 in a bit of a hybrid livery. It was painted DRS Oxford blue complete with Direct Railway Services decals, but hired to them from DB Schenker. DRS sub-hired the loco to Virgin Trains for a short-term London-Birmingham duty as pendolinos were being taken out of service for upgrades. When it returned to DBS, the DRS decals were removed and a large DB applied. It is now hired out to Abellio Greater Anglia and works the London-Norwich route.

 

Two red tail lights showing, so that's the end.

 

Now the GP should be finished, so it's off to watch the recording......

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

Edited June 19, 2016 by newbryford

[Coombe Barton]

Lawns mowed

 

Dogs walked

 

And now it's started to rain.

 

Hey ho!

[newbryford]

It transpires that my recorder didn't record the GP - B*gger was my first thought. A quick flick across to C4+1 to see the cooldown lap with the accompanying commentary that it wasn't the most exciting race. A quick read of reports elsewhere, and it looks like I've dodged a bullet by not sitting through the race.....

 

So in the end, actually a good result for me..

 

Cheers,

Mick

[grandadbob]

Blimey Mick, you've seen more of London than I have in the last twenty years or so and I live within spitting distance! (and sincerely wish I didn't which is why I don't go there much)

 

Although the kids said Father's Day for me will be next week they've both sent me some lurv on Instagram and amazingly have posted pics of me looking almost cheerful. (which those of you who have met me will know is quite an achievement)

 

Did some gardening so have now taken painkillers for my back in tablet form. I will shortly be opening a bottle of Red painkiller to accompany them and the Hairy Bikers One Pan Lamb Roast that The Boss is currently preparing. 

 

 

PS I  was bored by the GP and almost fell asleep.

Edited June 19, 2016 by grandadbob

[BSW01]

Good afternoon everyone.

 

The weather is f***ing awful, p1ssing down, has been since early afternoon.

 

Very late on parade today, it's been a very lazy day, I've done absolutely nothing, however if we'd decided to go out, it would have involved a lot of rushing about with brollies, so glad we stayed in. We've had no visitors here today, but I had cards and gifts given to me yesterday by 2 of our 3 children and a phone call from the 3rd, No 1 son NEVER gets himself organised.

 

Off to make tea now, our neighbour popped round yesterday evening with some freshly picked salad leaves from their allotment, we also had a huge punnet of strawberries too, which are absolutely delicious. So it's salad, minted lamb koftas (made at our local butchers) and rice, followed by strawberries and yogurt.

 

Back later.

[AndyB]

Afternoon all,

 

Dad's Army film watched and quite amusing. Of the original and up-to-date version I'm leaning towards the former, but hats off for a good effort. 

 

Decided that as the layout is quite large and there's a thousand things to do on it then the best way is to start with a job and tick it off, move on. 995 jobs to go. Makes it sound like a chore, which it isn't, of course. Now waiting for air-drying clay to, erm, dry. 

 

First foray towards the layout this morning was interrupted by my youngest. "Dad, to make this Father's Day extra special would you like to play football then help stick Euro 2016 stickers into my book."  I think there can only be one answer to that, so we spent some time practicing penalties and I am now much more knowledgeable about who plays for Albania!

 

Weather: hardly sizzling June. More like damp March.