The transferable
nil rate band legislation allowing married couples and civil partners to minimise inheritance tax
So it was also unavoidable that after Mrs Phizackerley's death her share of the home would by default fall into
the nil rate band trust, and that an equivalent asset would have to be created for that purpose if it was intended instead to pass that share of the home back to her surviving spouse.
This will usually be followed by a broad - brush outline of the mechanics of implementing the arrangement after the first death, ie by using a debt or charge to satisfy
the nil rate band legacy in situations where the family home is the most significant asset.
Her estate, consisting almost entirely of her share in the family home, was within
the nil rate band and under the terms of her will passed into the discretionary trust created by her will.
But Dr Phizackerley agreed with the trustees of
her nil rate band will trust that instead of transferring her share of the home to them he would transfer it to himself and instead give them an index - linked IOU for # 150,000, the then value of her share.
The value to practitioners of focusing on the administrative and compliance aspects of running
a nil rate band discretionary trust at the outset lies in, first, reminding trustees that they need to manage these arrangements actively, and, second, avoiding the problem of funding trust administration costs in the future.
When you are about to constitute
a nil rate band discretionary trust, leave a cash reserve in the trust rather than appointing all the liquidity to the surviving spouse.
But over # 150,000 of Dr Phizackerley's
nil rate band was wiped out by his inability to deduct his IOU debt, which had become an asset of his wife's
nil rate band trust, from the value of his own estate which at his death included the whole value of the family home.
Mrs Phizackerley's
nil rate band was used up to the value of her estate when her assets passed into her discretionary
nil rate band trust in 2000.
Probably both included discretionary
nil rate band trusts with any residue going to the surviving spouse; Mrs Phizackerley's certainly did.
Adopting an integrated approach to the creation and subsequent administration of
nil rate band trusts can make life that little bit easier for the practitioner.
This is something to bear in mind when revisiting the wills of living couples, especially those who have discretionary
nil rate band trusts in their existing wills.
There was nothing inherently unsound in the concept of using discretionary
nil rate band will trusts to enable both nil rate bands to be used, or in severing the joint tenancy of the family home to provide an asset to go into the will trust on first death.
As with pre-FA 2006 discretionary trusts, an 18 — 25 trust which has a value within the IHT
nil rate band (currently # 300,000) is unlikely to incur these additional IHT charges.
I reported in April how Yorkshire law firm Denison Till used new legislation to help clients avoid a # 30,000 inheritance tax bill by transferring the unused
nil rate band of the deceased's husband, an RAF officer who died in action in 1943.
So Mr Cook — head of Thomson & Bancks» private client department — succeeded in reducing the liability of his client's estate's to inheritance tax by transferring her first husband's
nil rate band — even though he died in 1942.
Simon Cook says: «The claim enabled my client's
nil rate band to be doubled from # 312,000 to # 624,000.
Jayne's practice covers a diverse range of charity matters and recent work includes advising on multi-jurisdictional regulatory and compliance concerns and a contested legacy involving an ambiguously worded transferable
nil rate band.
10th September 2015 Private Client IHT, inheritance tax,
nil rate band, probate, wills Posted by Raveet Phull
In addition to this, since 6th April 2017 estates will be entitled to the residence
nil rate band (RNRB) if on death they own a home / share of one which is left to «direct descendants».
Recent changes to
the nil rate band reflect this attempt to preserve the family home, but also reflect a distinct set of moral standards.
«However, not
all nil rate band clauses are in this form and there will be many instances where the wording only passes a single nil rate band.
The Conservative Party stole a march on the government last October when George Osborne announced that he would raise
the nil rate band to # 1m and fund that by a # 25,000 annual charge on «non-doms».
It is now the case that
any nil rate band which is not used up on the death of a spouse can be carried forward to the death of the widow or widower.
However, time has passed; political positions have changed and property prices have risen faster than
the nil rate band, which is the threshold below which IHT is not charged, currently # 312,000.
The government's own (long - awaited) review of the taxation of non-domiciled tax payers was hurriedly brought to a conclusion and a useful, but more modest, change to
the nil rate band was introduced.
In effect her children were able to benefit from three
nil rate bands.
Not exact matches
When George Osborne first announced the Tories» inheritance tax cuts policy, to great fanfare, in 2007, Labour responded with its own policy, to increase the
nil -
rate band from # 325,000 to # 350,000 from April 2010.
In the UK, discretionary will trusts (DWT) often were, and to some extent still are, used to ensure that married couples could take advantage of both spouses»
nil -
rate -
band (i.e. estate tax exemption...
Trust and probate specialist John Goodrich used new legislation to transfer the unused
nil rate tax
band of the lady's husband, an RAF officer who died in action in 1943 — more than 65 years before his wife.
However, the charity contested this interpretation, arguing that the s 8a transfer did not take place until after Smith's death, therefore «at the date of... death» Smith's
nil -
rate band was only # 325,000.
This # 325,000 is known as the
nil -
rate band (NRB).
From April 6th people might be able to benefit from an additional tax free allowance when a residence is passed on death to a direct descendant (residence
nil -
rate band).
In addition, the surviving spouse / civil partner can «inherit» the other party's
nil -
rate band, meaning the full # 650,000 can pass to other beneficiaries such as children on the death of the second spouse / civil partner.
This is because unmarried partners can only pass assets up to the value of the
nil -
rate band of # 325,000 free from the imposition of inheritance tax.
The
nil -
rate band is the amount which may be passed to anyone free of inheritance tax.
However, if a testator simply leaves the entirety of his estate to his surviving spouse or civil partner, the opportunity to use the
nil -
rate band on both his and the survivor's deaths will be lost.
This can save up to # 120,000 of inheritance tax (based on the current
nil -
rate band of # 300,000).
It is possible, however, through careful drafting of a will to ensure that as much as possible of the
nil -
rate band of the first to die can be left to other beneficiaries, eg children and grandchildren, thus ensuring that the
nil -
rate bands of both spouses or civil partners are used.
The Law Society has published its response to HMRC's June consultation on trust inheritance tax charges, Inheritance Tax: a fairer way of calculating trust charges, giving a qualified welcome to the proposed settlement
nil -
rate band.
For the purposes of this article, I shall assume that the particular case is one where the total estate is likely to exceed the «
nil -
rate band» (NRB), currently # 300,000: see the Finance Act 2005, s 98.
Any unused
nil -
rate band will be able to be transferred to a surviving spouse or civil partner.
This measure introduces an additional
nil -
rate band when a residence is passed on death to a direct descendant.
The main residence
nil -
rate band will be transferable where the second spouse or civil partner of a couple dies on or after 6 April 2017 irrespective of when the first of the couple died.
The
nil -
rate band can be transferred when the surviving spouse or civil partner dies on or after 9 October 2007, irrespective of when the first of the couple died, so that the
nil -
rate band can be up to # 650,000.
A claim will have to be made on the death of a person's surviving spouse or civil partner to transfer any unused proportion of the additional
nil -
rate band unused by the person on their death, in the same way that the existing
nil -
rate band can be transferred.
Married and civil partnered people are offered special circumstances that allow them to transfer their
nil -
rate band to a partner after they die.
Later, when the surviving spouse or civil partner dies, inheritance tax kicks in only when the value of their estate exceeds their own
nil -
rate band and the partner's unused
nil -
rate band.