Wealth, Health and Inheritance Briefing – February 2021

Welcome to our February edition

I hope that you are bearing up under Lockdown 3.0. As with the previous lockdowns Clarke Willmott continues to be open for business and we are seeing clients virtually. In this edition, we follow up our previous article looking at what might be in the OTS’s capital gains tax review with an overview of its main points.

As more people buy property jointly with partners, friends or family, declarations of trust are vital to avoid disputes in the future. We look at their importance. Our Family team also considers the significance of pension sharing on divorce, and we report on an interesting recent case where the court approved a Deed of Variation that replaced a disabled person’s outright interest in her grandfather’s estate with a trust.

By the time of our next issue in two months’ time we very much hope that the general outlook will be better. In the meantime please get in touch if you have any feedback or queries and please follow us on @CWPrivateclient.

Anthony Fairweather

In this edition

OTS’s capital gains tax review

We reported in the Autumn edition of WHIB on the Office of Tax Simplification’s (OTS) consultation, part of its review of capital gains tax (CGT). OTS have now published their first report “Simplifying by Design” which puts forward their initial recommendations on the policy design and principles underlying CGT. Read more

Declarations of Trust and property ownership

Many people buy property jointly with a friend or partner, and in the first flush of delight in their new home, may not consider the problems that could lie ahead if a dispute arises and the terms of co-ownership have not been agreed and set out clearly. Read more

Dividing assets on divorce: pension pot of gold?

Pension pots can often be one of the most valuable assets an individual owns, and may increasingly be so in the future given the introduction of workplace pensions. Read more

Welfare benefits and deprivation of capital

In our last edition of WHIB we looked at how disabled person’s trusts can protect a disabled person’s inheritance when they receive means tested welfare benefits. Read more