21st April 2023

An evening with Ten Old Square

Louise Garrett

Associate

We were delighted to welcome our friends and contacts to Lincoln's Inn this week, to hear from Elizabeth Atkinson of Ten Old Square Chambers on the top considerations to reduce the inheritance tax burden through careful lifetime planning.

Some key points:

For those making lifetime gifts as part of normal expenditure out of income and planning for their estate to benefit from the inheritance tax relief available, actions you should take are:

Document the decision
Be consistent with the principle
Identify the source of income
Act before there is imminent anticipation of death

For a gift of property, there are steps to ensure your compliance with the gift with reservation legislation if you will still benefit from the asset:

Take proper advice at the time of the gift
Act on the market value such that full market rent is paid by the donor for use of the property
Document the decision to support an arm’s length approach
Document any changes to the arrangement

Often overlooked, relief can be provided in certain circumstances where there are dispositions for maintenance of:

A spouse or civil partner
A former spouse or civil partner
The transferor’s children
Other people’s children
A dependent relative

Here at Hunters, we have a wealth of experience and technical expertise which informs the specialist advice we provide to our clients in their succession planning.