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Coming unstuck?

12 January 2006
Issue: 4040 / Categories: Forum & Feedback

We act for an elderly widow. Before 17 March 1986, she gave half of her main house to her daughters. She has lived in it ever since without paying rent. Our client has a country cottage, too, but that, we think, is a red herring relative to our question, which is whether readers agree that the gifted half of the house will be outside of a charge to inheritance tax when our client dies.
We understand that if this is so, then the daughters might have a capital gains tax issue.

We act for an elderly widow. Before 17 March 1986 she gave half of her main house to her daughters. She has lived in it ever since without paying rent. Our client has a country cottage too but that we think is a red herring relative to our question which is whether readers agree that the gifted half of the house will be outside of a charge to inheritance tax when our client dies.
We understand that if this is so then the daughters might have a capital gains tax issue.
Are there any grounds for saying that the mother occupied the gifted half of the house under an implied trust and that the main residence exemption might then apply?
Query T16 737 – Dead Horse.


Reply by Hodgy:

The first point to confirm is that the rules relating to gifts with reservation of benefit...

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