Bare or simple trusts

A trust is an obligation that binds a trustee, an individual or a company to deal with the assets such as land, money and shares which form part of the trust. The person who puts assets into a trust is known as a settlor and the trust is for the benefit of one or...

Inheritance Tax-free gifts reminder

We wanted to remind our readers of the Inheritance Tax (IHT) implications of making cash gifts during the current 2021-22 tax year that will end on 5 April 2022. You can give away up to £3,000 worth of gifts each tax year. This is known as your annual exemption....

Leaving gifts to charity in your Will

The government introduced new rules to encourage charitable giving on death in 2012. The rule which has remained unchanged ever since means that a reduced rate of Inheritance Tax (IHT) of 36% (reduced from 40%) applies where 10% or more of a deceased’s net...

IHT and domicile

Domicile is a general legal concept which in basic terms is taken to mean the country where you permanently belong but actually determining domicile status can be complex. HMRC guidance states that domicile cannot be defined precisely, but the concept rests on various...

IHT change of domicile

It is possible in certain circumstances for an individual to have two domiciles although this is unusual. There is a concept in the UK of deemed domicile, whereby any person who has been resident in the UK for more than 15 of the previous 20 years will be deemed to be...