Finally we hear some common sense emanating from 11 Downing Street – during his annual Autumn Statement earlier today, Chancellor George Osborne announced that Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) can be passed to a surviving spouse or civil partner on death, and with the tax-free wrapper intact.
The current regime means that ISAs lose their tax-free status when the account holder dies and the balance is transferred to their surviving spouse or civil partner. George Osborne’s announcement means that this tax penalty will be removed.
In our experience of dealing with the estates of deceased clients, the surviving spouse/civil partner is typically retired when they get hit with this frankly unnecessary tax penalty. It’s been a glaring injustice affecting over 150,000 people per year, but – as of 3rd December 2014 – surviving spouses/civil partners will benefit from the transferable tax-free ISA wrapper.
Married savers, and those in civil partnerships will be able to bequeath ISA tax breaks to their spouses when they die. This allows us all to plan for the future with a bit more certainty.
To ensure that you have everything in order for when you’re no longer around, it’s critically important that you get a Will put in place, as well as a Power of Attorney should you lose your faculties later in life. We can help you secure your future now. Call us on 0141 221 8840 to get the ball rolling.
