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Does the seven-year rule apply to jointly gifted assets?

A reader seeks guidance on a finer point of inheritance taxation
August 5, 2022

I can’t find details on how the application of inheritance tax (IHT) to a married couple, who jointly give money to grandchildren, is accounted for if one survives for seven years and the other doesn’t. It seems difficult or impossible to predict who has the better chance of surviving. My wife and I are both in our 82nd year. 

Stephanie Court, Private Client Tax Director at RSM UK

The gift of cash to a grandchild is reflected in the principles of IHT through the concept of a transfer of value. A transfer of value, put simply, is a disposition made by a person as a result of which the value of their estate has decreased.

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