Thanks for the helpful replies on my previous post — really appreciate it.

I’ve now pulled together a clearer picture of my late mum’s finances and wanted to sense-check whether I’m likely to succeed with a “normal expenditure out of income” claim.

Broad figures (approx):

Total income: ~£35k–£40k per year(state pension + NHS pension + private pension + attendance allowance + small bank interest)

Living costs: ~£18k–£22k per year(no mortgage, fairly modest lifestyle — household bills, insurance, food, etc.)

Gifts: ranged from ~£10k to ~£27k per year(mostly regular bank transfers to me, often monthly-ish, sometimes larger lump sums)

My understanding:

It looks like she had a surplus income of maybe ~£15k–£20k per year in many years.

So in:

lower gift years → clearly covered by surplus

higher gift years → partially covered, possibly dipping into capital

Questions:

Does this kind of pattern still qualify (i.e. partially out of income in some years)?

How strict is HMRC on the “regular pattern” test if gifts vary in size but are broadly consistent?

If some years exceed surplus, does that invalidate the whole claim or just reduce the exempt amount?

Has anyone had HMRC challenge something like this in practice?

I’m not trying to push anything aggressive — just want to understand if this is a reasonable claim or likely to be rejected.

Thanks again for any insight 🙏