The Bank of Mum and Dad in the UK props up home purchases, education, and increasingly, day-to-day living. As wages stay stagnant, and inflation rises, many parents and grandparents who are able to, are gifting or loaning their loved ones money. In fact, two-thirds of parents are considering gifting their children an early inheritance, and nearly half saying they’ve already given their children financial gifts, according to 2025 research from .
One in five homeowners in 2025 were helped by parents, and an average of £55,572 was given in parental loans and gifts according to research by Savills. Yet money is a difficult thing to discuss with family, and knowing how to pass on money while you’re still alive can be a financial conundrum.
Here, experts explain the common mistakes and pitfalls to avoid.
Vapes and prescription medicine now used to spike victims
Drug-laced vapes, as well as prescription and over-the-counter medications, are increasingly being used to spike victims, police have said.
Various drugs used in vapes
Cases have emerged where officers have encountered vapes containing THC, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis, and the synthetic drug spice, alongside the use of high doses of common medications such as antihistamines and travel-sickness tablets.
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Victims targeted in private settings
We’re seeing offenders use a wider range of substances than ever before, including everyday medications and substances added to vapes, while increasingly targeting victims in private settings such as homes, parties and student accommodation
Metropolitan police spiking lead Detective Superintendent Dan Thompson
How widespread is the issue?
- Over the past year, more than 2,700 spiking-related offences were reported to the Met, but only 131 resulted in a charge, caution or summons.
- This marked a 20 per cent increase over the previous year.
- More than half the victims were aged 18 to 35.
- A YouGov poll from December 2022 found that 10 per cent of women and 5 per cent of men said they had had a drink spiked.
The four key moments from Burnham’s meeting with Trump
There was no shortage of trip-wires that could have derailed Andy Burnham’s first meeting with Donald Trump, but in the end, it produced remarkably little friction.
Even without the charm offensive, Trump liked Burnham better than Starmer
In July, when Trump met Sir Keir Starmer at the Nato summit in Turkey after he had announced his resignation, the US President said he wanted to “bring him back” and “make him great again”.
Two months on, that affection has evaporated. Asked about a special relationship that has been up and down, Trump said things were “more up than they were under your last prime minister”.
No Trump attack on UK migration policy
Trump has previously said Britain is “on the edge of disaster” because of “insane” immigration policies, but in New York, he called it “a worldwide situation”.
For a Labour Prime Minister under pressure on small boats, being spared a public rebuke on his first outing is significant.
Trump thinks Britain has ‘tremendous potential’
Trump has previously called the UK “essentially bankrupt” for refusing to fully exploit North Sea oil and for relying on green energy. He has also claimed the country is “dying” under alleged mass migration.
This time he said Britain had “tremendous potential” and compared it favourably with other countries whose leaders he meets but in which he sees little promise.
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Burnham swerved a Trump rebuke over West Bank
- Many expected Washington to condemn Britain’s sanctions on illegal West Bank settlements.
- When asked directly, Trump did not engage. He said he did not know about the move and left the question for Burnham to answer.
- It was an odd moment, but a useful one for No 10. A US president who wanted to punish Britain had an open invitation to do so and passed it up.
How the licence fee could be scrapped for a new monthly charge
The licence fee could be axed and replaced by an £11-a-month internet levy – and viewers invited to become “BBC members” – under new proposals.
The licence fee is becoming increasingly unsustainable, with 3.7 million households claiming to not need one, while half a million households stopped paying last year, forcing the BBC to find £500m in cuts.
‘Home internet levy’ fairest solution
A “home internet levy” method of funding is most likely to command public consent, the report, commissioned by campaign organisation 38 Degrees, found.
A BBC internet levy would cost £11 per month, an average increase of 35 per cent on the current cost of internet bills, but would be £4 a month cheaper than the current licence fee.
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The other proposals for the BBC
The report looked at other funding solutions such as keeping the licence fee, but adding a “news and culture levy” of £2.30 on to internet bills.
Also proposed was a £12 a month “household levy” or putting the cost of the licence fee on to streaming subscriptions.
Make BBC a ‘mutual’ society
- The report also proposed radical changes to make the BBC more accountable to the public by becoming a “mutual-style membership” organisation.
- Members would be chosen by lottery to take part in a member council, where they would serve terms of up to three years and be paid for their time.
- They would “hold the board of the BBC to account, ensuring that the organisation is meeting its duties to the public”.
- Under the proposals, the council would have no control over editorial decisions, hiring talent or decisions on programming.
Royal claims you haven’t heard as Earl Spencer’s book published
With Earl Spencer’s controversial book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister now released, The i Paper has taken a closer look at some of the claims.
Here are five of the most eye-catching.
Charles acted like ‘child’
Then-prince Charles acted like a “petulant” child, according to Spencer. Charles is said to have told the author that he was “lucky” to be inheriting the Althorp Estate while still in his twenties.
- According to Spencer, Charles told him: “You’re just so lucky – you know, inheriting when you’re so young. I mean, I’m 43… and I employ 50 people … but my parents insist on treating me like – like a child!”
A closer look at the claims
Spencer claims, via a courtier, that the late Queen Elizabeth II said Charles was “resentful”. “He always resents things. He even resented it when I taught him the alphabet.”
He also wrote about Elizabeth’s apparent response to the news Diana was involved in an accident. “When the Queen had heard the first news of Diana’s being in a traffic accident, she had asked tetchily, ‘What is she up to now?’” he wrote. “This, before the seriousness of it all became clear.”
Diana suspected Charles had ‘tryst’ with Camilla on train
Diana suspected that Charles may have had a “tryst” with Camilla, according to the book. The suspicion followed a press report in 1980 which claimed Charles was seen with a blonde woman on the royal train.
However, Spencer wrote that this was not Diana and that she suspected that it was Camilla on the train.
Law firm offered to help him sue over Diana crash
Earl Spencer claims that a law firm offered to help him, William and Harry sue over the crash that killed Diana in France.
He said that he did not reply to the letter.
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Morgan threatens to sue
Piers Morgan has threatened to sue Earl Spencer after claiming that there are “fabricated inaccuracies” in the book.
- The Earl claimed that Morgan “snarled with annoyance” after he was uninvited from Diana’s funeral.
The reaction
- Earl Spencer, responding to the Palace’s pushback over Charles’s alleged words, told the BBC: “Those are exactly the words he said.”
- He has also denied being vengeful. “I don’t hold resentments,” he told .
- Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on the latest revelations and referred back to Wednesday’s initial statement.
- Earl Spencer was approached for further comment.
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Children as young as 13 diagnosed with ‘ketamine bladder’
Children as young as 13 have been referred to a specialist clinic with ketamine-induced uropathy (KIU), according to new analysis.
What is ‘ketamine bladder’?
KIU – also known as ketamine bladder – is a painful and severe condition caused by the drug damaging the urinary tubes, kidneys and bladder.
- Frequent urination, blood in urine and a loss of bladder control are some of the symptoms.
- The UK’s first KIU clinic opened in May 2025 due to a rise in young people with the condition.
Which children are most affected?
- The average age of the first 60 patients was 14.
- Around 66 per cent of the patients were girls, with a similar proportion living in the most deprived areas.
- 72 per cent had experienced emotional trauma, with one in five having experienced the care system.
- 16 of the children had autism or ADHD, or both.
The underlying factors
We are trying to understand the wider picture. use does not happen in isolation, and our analysis is helping us explore the different factors that may be associated with young people developing serious health problems
Professor Rachel Isba, consultant in paediatric public health medicine at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
How one test could ‘transform’ womb cancer care
A simple test analysing cells in urine and vaginal fluid could help rule out womb cancer in women experiencing bleeding after menopause.
Women could avoid invasive tests
The new test has the potential to “transform care” researchers said, sparing patients from “invasive, uncomfortable” tests that are costly for the NHS.
Around 10,200 women are diagnosed with womb cancer in the UK each year. Bleeding after menopause is a common symptom and can trigger urgent cancer referral.
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A closer look at the study
- The research included 1,864 women attending hospital with postmenopausal bleeding.
- The test correctly identified 80 per cent of cancers.
- It had a negative predictive value of 98.8 per cent for womb cancer, meaning women with a negative result were very unlikely to have the disease.
- It also detected 95.8 per cent of high-grade tumours and 96.4 per cent of cancers that had spread beyond the uterus.
How to be more grateful for daily life in five easy steps
The world feels like a difficult place at the moment, and it can feel very hard sometimes to find things to be thankful for; when we are overwhelmed, we have less capacity to notice and reflect on the good things. Yet, ironically, proactively cultivating gratitude is one of the things that can actually help us feel less stressed.
NHS GP dR RADHA
The science
Research has shown that feeling or expressing thanks can actually alter our brain.
- The balance of neurotransmitters change; more serotonin and dopamine (feel good chemicals) are produced.
- This can be long lasting if we make gratitude a regular habit.
- We also get a decrease in our cortisol (stress hormone) levels which helps lower anxiety.
- Being grateful can strengthen the nerve pathways which triggers positive emotion.
How can we build gratitude?
Change your words
Instead of seeing something as a problem, try to see the opportunities within it.
Our brains are very receptive and what we read or write can alter our emotional system.
Express it
This will not only make you feel good, but you will also get a positive response from others.
How can we build gratitude?
Notice more
Throughout your day, try to notice all the things that are going well; has someone opened a door for you, or smiled?
The basics
By being thankful for the small things every day, we are far more likely to be and stay healthy so that we can enjoy them.
What to do
Gratitude can lead to feelings of optimism, lower our blood pressure, and improve sleep quality.
- Write down what potential good aspects there are to the things you don’t feel like doing, or even what could be worse about it.
- Spend a few minutes writing down three things that you are looking forward to that day, or the good things that have happened to you that day.
- Say thank you to yourself for the things you have achieved, or managed to get through and changed that day.
Sales of battery
electric vehicles hit a record high last year.
Starts at £22,995 for the smaller battery
Available with either a 40kWh battery or a larger 52kWh pack, that offers almost 255 miles, the latest, retro-inspired Renault 5 is both a joy to behold and a hoot to drive.
The interior has been lavished with a level of detail that’s typically reserved for more expensive cars.
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A champion of EV efficiency
It offers a remarkable 491 mile range on a single charge from the 85kWh battery.
It is a technological masterclass inside with the ability to option screens that span the entire width of the dashboard, including an optional display for the front passenger.
Priced from £37,400
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It’s a lot of money to part with, but this is arguably all the car you will ever need.
The £89,000 Macan is a premium SUV that somehow manages to blend Porsche’s reputation for dynamics and sporty driving with everyday practicality.
The 95kWh batteries can go from 10 to 80 per cent in as little as 21 minutes from the fastest public charging outlets.
With the business class-style six seat configuration costing a staggering £76,995, it is by far the most expensive Kia ever made, but it backs up its financial demands with a suite of genuinely useful and impressive onboard technology.
It’s fast, goes a long way between stops and charges relatively quickly but the interior is bland, the onboard technology is infuriating and the experience is devoid of emotion.
All of its gadgetry can’t disguise the fact that performance is weak, even for a typically zippy EV, the ride is fussy at slower speeds and it’s not in the least bit enjoyable to drive on a country road.
- While good value (prices start at £17,935) for the 200-mile max range, there are more interesting options from Hyundai, Citroen and Renault for similar money.
- It attempts to wow with tech, much of which hinders, rather than helps.
- There’s no tangible benefit over mounting your phone to the dash.
- Simply an average driving experience, adequate range and slow charging speeds.
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Assuming your child will be with their partner for ever
Frances Bailey, is a specialist family lawyer at Mills & Reeve. “One of the areas of difficulty that we see,” she says, “is where parents gave their grown-up child a deposit to help them on to the property ladder, or they’ve passed wealth on as part of sensible inheritance tax planning, and haven’t thought about what might happen if that child’s relationship breaks down.
“The parent might feel aghast if suddenly the son-in-law or daughter-in-law, who is now an ex and no longer in favour is saying, ‘I’ve got a claim to that money. That’s in our pot, and that should be divided between us as part of our settlement.”
Bailey says that what might happen is the adult child, who has been given this deposit by her parents, says to her now-ex: “When we sell our £500k home, we owe my parents £125k,” and the ex son or daughter-in-law says, ‘no we don’t, that was a gift, and it should be split between us.’”
David Macdonald, founder of wealth management service Path Financial, says often parents don’t want to imagine their child’s marriage breaking down – but that they should think realistically. “Johnny goes off and buys a nice pad with his wife, but five minutes later they’re divorced, and the parents have to watch the ex-spouse waltz off with half their money.”
What can parents realistically do to protect their money in case of any future relationship breakdown? It depends on the specific situation, but parents can use a legal framework to set up a declaration of trust which states the gift belongs solely to their child. Or the money can be a gift, but protected with cohabitation, prenuptial, and post-nuptial agreements. “There’s 100 per cent a squeamishness around prenups,” says Bailey, “but it’s becoming a bit more socially acceptable to have them.
“If there’s a family business, then there can be an expectation from the outset that each child will have prenups, postnups, cohabitation agreements – then, you’re not saying to your son-in-law [individually] that you don’t like them or trust them. Having this as a rule for everyone, whoever their partner is, feels less pointed.” Bailey had a client whose family were all in business together, and their shareholders’ agreement effectively stated that if they get married, there will be a prenup. “That’s easier, as then you’re not having an awkward conversation.”
Ellie Milner, another partner at Mills & Reeve, who advises clients about estate planning and succession, says: “It’s worth protecting against that relationship that the parent thought was rock-solid, but might turn out not to be. There’s nothing worse than a client saying, ‘oh it’s fine, their partner is lovely.’ They’re lovely – until they’re not.”
Fuelling sibling rows
Protecting wealth is important, says Milner, but what’s crucial is to also protect family relationships. “When we’re talking to clients, they’ll often say, ‘my oldest child wants to buy a house, so we’re going to give them some money,’ but they’re not necessarily thinking about their two other younger children, and what provisions they might make for them as they get to that stage.”
Will a parent have the means to do the same for those other children, or are they going to be differentiating between them? “That can cause issues in the family dynamic,” says Milner. “People make piecemeal decisions in the short term, but it’s good to take a step back and think, ‘what do we want to achieve here, and what does this look like for all of our children?'”
If a parent is going to differentiate between children in terms of the money they give them, clarity is key. “We have a team who deals with inheritance disputes,” says Bailey, “and those are often about lack of communication. People haven’t been clear about why they’re perhaps giving money to one person and not the other. It might feel unnatural, because if you’re family, why do you need these formal conversations? However, it can really pay dividends later on if families have talked about this openly from the outset.”
A parent might give their child who has kids a bigger amount to help with nursery fees, and the other child without their own kids might be fine with that – or they might see it as rejection, or preferential treatment. “Sit down with the next generation,” says Milner, “and say, ‘ok, you’ve done really well in life, how do you feel about us disproportionately helping your siblings? Is that going to be a problem?’”
Macdonald adds that depending on how you divide up your assets to your children, “money can be the most poisonous legacy imaginable”. He refers to the Gucci family as an example of how not to do it. The Guccis have spent decades embroiled in jealousy and greed, with bitter legal battles over millions following the 1995 murder of Maurizio Gucci. While the vast majority of families are not dealing with this kind of immense wealth, families have still fallen out over much smaller amounts of cash.
Making your offspring’s life too easy
“If you’ve got a child who’s inclined to be a bit lazy or feckless,” says Macdonald, “I’d counsel against giving them too much of an easy ride financially. They may fall back into a more meaningless life than they could have if they’d had to make their own way, with a bit of struggle, make mistakes, and find out what life’s about.”
Macdonald has found, in his work, that the more functional and well-adjusted the child is, the better they tend to cope with being given money. In his experience, when it comes to the very wealthy, there are those adult children who might live quite a modest life, do philanthropic work, or even take on a lower-paid job they find meaningful, like gardening or nursing, while being custodian to a fortune. “There are others who go down the cocaine-and-Ferrari route, buying up properties and assets, fighting their siblings, and keeping score of every penny.”
Assuming you can control your child’s future
“Clients differ wildly in the level of control they want in their adult children’s lives,” says Milner, “and they also differ hugely in what they believe is a worthy use of their money. With the best will in the world, your children grow up to be the people that they are, as much as we all like to think our parenting could dictate that. It can be challenging when the parents are high-achieving – maybe they’ve made their own money, and have children who aren’t minded in that way.”
Milner says that the adult child might have taken a vocational path or aren’t motivated by buying a house. If a parent wants to give money to a child who isn’t necessarily going to “settle down”, it’s about bringing children into the conversation, and talking to them about their interests. “What motivates them? What’s their passion?” says Milner. “Talking about that can sometimes get parents over that hump of, ‘is this a reasonable use of the money I’ve worked incredibly hard for?’”
You can legally stipulate what you want the money to be used for by creating certain types trust, where the money is only paid out for university, or a home. But if you give cash directly to an adult child, it becomes their legal property, and while you can of course verbally encourage them to use it for something specific, you can’t legally enforce how it’s used.
Not leaving yourself enough money for a nice life
Milner says that while there’s a drive to help children out, it’s also good not to rush into it. “Work out with a financial planner how you’re going to also get what you want from life – and that’s not the bare minimum. What do you want your retirement to look like? If you needed care, would you want that to be at home?” Trying to plan a long way into the future is key so you can understand what you can afford to give now, and then maybe a bit more in five or 10 years when there’s a bit more clarity around the future. “It’s something clients don’t always think about, and I have to say to them, ‘do you want to be in a position where your children are living a much easier life then you are?’ The fact that, actually, they might want to be able to go on some nice holidays, is perfectly reasonable.”
Macdonald says that giving too much too early is a mistake, but there is also a risk of giving too little. “Most people die with too much money, because they’re worried they’ll run out. They could have helped their children when they were younger and needed it more, and been alive to see the impact.”
At the same time, it’s important to accept that you might not get it completely right. “I see people in ‘paralysis by analysis’ where they’re going round and round the houses on money, and end up doing nothing, as they’re scared of making a mistake,” says Macdonald. “You don’t know what the future holds for investments, health, or the lives of your children. It can be bewildering for parents to figure out what best to do, but that’s why it’s worth getting advice from financial planners, and solicitors, so you’ve thought of your family’s interests, but also your own future.”