IHTM13031 - Domicile: Domicile of Spouse or civil partner

Spouse or civil partner exemption ( IHTM11032) on transfers on death and life are restricted to a total of £55,000

• where the deceased/donor is domiciled in the UK and
• the transferee spouse or civil partner is not domiciled in the UK

and, for the purpose of the exemption, domicile includes deemed domicile even in the case where a pre-1975 Double Taxation Agreement is in point ( IHTM27161).

If there is any doubt about the place of domicile of a spouse or civil partner (an address in a will, or on the IHT400, or IHT100 etc) issue form RAD1 to the taxpayer and ask them to complete the form for the surviving spouse or civil partner. At the same time ask for a Risk, Research and Liaison Team search to be conducted on the spouse or civil partner at the date of transfer/death.

You must bear in mind that the devolution of moveable property is governed by the law of the country in which the deceased is domiciled. If the deceased was domiciled outside the UK, certain classes of beneficiaries, eg children, may have rights which supersede those of the surviving spouse for instance. This is even more likely to be an issue when the deceased was survived by a civil partner as a number of foreign jurisdictions do not yet recognise civil partnerships and therefore do not provide any inheritance rights to surviving civil partners.

If you are dealing with a case in which the deceased was domiciled outside the UK, had moveable property in the UK and was survived by a spouse or civil partner, please ask the parties to explain how they have established how the estate is to be distributed. If they have taken advice from lawyers in the deceased's country of domicile, please ask for a copy of that advice and then refer the file to Technical Group.

If you are not sure whether the foreign jurisdiction recognises civil partnerships there is a useful website (www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk) which contains a comprehensive list of the civil partnership legislation throughout the world and which will be updated regularly.

Once you have the information send the papers to Technical Group with a submission that explains the facts and the reason(s) for concern.