Q: As a cohabiting couple, we bought our home as tenants in common with a 50/50 split. I know that through a will, I can let my half pass to my partner. But if my half is above the inheritance tax threshold, does that mean if I die first, he then has to pay inheritance tax? PM
A: The only way you can make sure that your half of your joint home goes to your partner is to make a will naming him as the beneficiary of your share of the property. He would only inherit the property automatically if you were joint tenants of the home rather than tenants in common. If you don’t make a will, he won’t get your share as it will go to a member of your family under the intestacy rules. If you die without a will – and are unmarried or not in a civil partnership – your estate goes to your children if you have any, to your parents if you don’t and to your siblings if your parents are dead. If you are married or in a civil partnership and die intestate, the surviving spouse or civil partner gets everything if there are no children. But if there are children, the survivor gets the first £250,000 of the estate plus half the reminder and the personal possessions of the deceased with the children getting the rest.
Being married or in a civil partnership is beneficial when it comes to inheritance tax. All gifts left to a spouse or civil partner in a will – or inherited under the intestacy rules – are free of inheritance tax. There’s no such exemption for couples who are merely cohabiting.
In your case, if the value of the estate that you leave to your partner exceeds the inheritance nil-rate band of £325,000 (for deaths occurring in the 2016-17 tax year), there will be an inheritance tax bill of 40% on the amount above £325,000.
