This posting is "only slightly" tongue in cheek!
Why die owning a half million pound house ? Are there banks/buildings socs that will give a flexible mortgage (money to be TAKEN by the borrower when needed) upto say 300K less than its value at say 1K per month.
For example, if a 60 year old owns a 500K house. (greatly simplified here - interest and house price appreciation not considered) He/She could take 10K per year for 20 years and still have 300K equity in the house at death at 80.
Isn't it best to die with only 275K in assets to avoid IHT ? Another benefit is the money extracted from the house could be drip fed to the kids at say 3K per year (eg pay for their cash ISAs). This should also minimise IHT. If one of the kids wants the houseon death of the OAP, they have the stash drip fed to them that can be used towards paying off the mortgage.
OAP