DOMICILE, IHT and burial

In message , Marshall Rice writes

Funnily enough, before I read this, at a seminar today the speaker referred to this very point and stated that an otherwise non-domiciled testator who had asked to be buried in UK had NOT severed all ties with UK and therefore was domiciled in UK. I wish I'd got the reference now.....

Does this mean that the Revenue might ask to see a copy of your current Will?

Obviously for IHT purposes they will wait for you to die first :)

In message , John Smith writes

Yes, they see every will which is proven in probate.

Hopefully!! Although IHT is chargeable on some lifetime gifts.

But you've got to die first for that!

Would you give an example? I thought you had to die for IHT.

In message , John Smith writes

Of course!! (Sorry about that!)

A settlement to a discretionary trust attracts IHT at the lifetime rate which is currently half the full rate. Thereafter there is a periodic charge to IHT every 10 years and also a charge on certain other transactions carried out by the trustees.

We must be talking cross-purposes. I was asking if there are circumstances where the Revenue might want to see the Will of a LIVING person.

"Obviously" one can change a Will at any time (before one's death, generally :). But there are situations where this can be prevented; if you agree in a contract to make certain provisions in your Will then these can be enforced after your death by the party relying on those provisions having been made. I discussed some case law on this with a solicitor recently. You can agree to make a provision in a Will as part of a divorce settlement and this can be enforced even if you changed the Will later. Not a lot of people know this...

Presumably it would make sense to make such settlements over time, each one being below the IHT threshold? Or is one allowed only one contribution per lifetime for IHT purposes?

Well, since a will can always be changed, then even if the changes are in breach of the kind of agreement you mention, and the changed will would be successfully challenged in due course, there's nothing to prevent the Revenue being shown the changed version which will turn out to be invalid.

I wouldn't be so sure this is actually true, except incidentally, that is to say you can enter into a binding agreement to make certain payments, and they then become general debts (which somehow stay acknowledged so they don't expire after 6 years) which the creditor allows you to defer until you die.

I don't see why it would be better to bind yourself to leave some asset in your will than instead simply to transfer the asset while still alive, but with reservation of beneficial interest until you die. In other words, it just becomes an ordinary debt. Debts have priority over your will-able estate anyway.

Some jurisdictions have the concept of inheritance contracts, but I thought they were utterly foreign to UK law.

In message , John Smith writes

And it can be changed afterwards.

Thats right, thats because the contract is a 'liability' , for want of a better word of the estate which must be settled.

Its not the number but the cumulative value.