Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether children of a first marriage are disadvantaged compared with the children of subsequent marriages under current inheritance tax rules.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Inheritance tax is generally levied on estates rather than on beneficiaries. Although any legacies to a spouse or civil partner will be exempt, the relationship between the deceased and the beneficiaries usually has no effect on the inheritance tax liability of an estate under the current rules. The children of first marriages and of subsequent marriages, and indeed other beneficiaries of the deceased, will generally be treated in the same way.

The Government considered whether children of a first marriage would be disadvantaged compared with children of subsequent marriages when developing legislation for the new residence allowance. This is being phased in from April 2017 for individuals who leave their home to their children, grandchildren or other direct descendants. The definition of direct descendants includes a person who was at any time a step-child of the deceased so it would apply equally to children of first and any subsequent marriages.