ATFM

If, on first death, everything is left to the surviving spouse/civil partner, does the survivor now have a lifetime gift threshold of £650,000? Unfortunately, the answer is no, as any available transferable nil rate band (TNRB) can only be used against the IHT arising on the death of the surviving spouse - it cannot be used by the surviving spouse/civil partner for lifetime gifting. There is also a lot of confusion around transferring the residence nil rate band (RNRB), which was introduced in April 2017. The RNRB is transferable between spouses/civil partners on death, much like the standard nil rate band (NRB). It is the unused percentage of the RNRB from the estate of the first to die which can be claimed on the second death. If the first death occurred before April 2017, on the survivor’s death there will be a 100% RNRB available irrespective of whether the first death owned residential property. However, if the first death’s estate was greater than £2m, then the RNRB would be