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Giving away your assets to the next generation before your death can be an effective means of minimising Inheritance Tax (IHT) liabilities. However, as one tribunal case showed, such gifts have to be absolute and bring you no personal benefit in order to achieve the tax savings desired. Where a gift is made and the person making it (the donor) retains any benefit from whatever is given away, this is called a 'gift with reservation of benefit'. Such gifts are ineffective for IHT and are treated by HM Revenue...

There is a tendency to think that procedural matters are mere formalities and there is no need to be in a rush to dot the i's and cross the t's, but sometimes failing to deal with them promptly can cause significant problems, as a recent case involving a seemingly simple administrative issue after a property purchase shows. The property purchase was completed in January 2012 and the sale of the land did not reserve a right of way for the adjacent land, which was retained by the vendors. Due to...

Imprisoning parents is inevitably traumatic for their children, and striking a balance between child welfare and appropriate punishment of criminals is a dilemma confronted by judges every day. However, a Court of Appeal ruling has emphasised that parenthood is not a trump card that can be played to avoid jail. The case concerned a prison officer who had admitted smuggling large quantities of contraband, including cannabis and mobile phones, to inmates at the institution where she worked. She was spared jail and given a suspended two-year sentence, largely due to...

The dangers of concluding that estranged children who have been disinherited will have no claim against a deceased person's estate were made very clear after a widely reported case decided last year. They have again been highlighted in a recent case in Leeds County Court, in which the daughter of a man who had been estranged from her for many years successfully brought a claim for a share of his estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, alleging that 'reasonable financial provision' had not been...