Inheritance Tax Act 1984

CHAPTER IU.K. PRELIMINARY

43 Settlement and related expressions.U.K.

(1)The following provisions of this section apply for determining what is to be taken for the purposes of this Act to be a settlement, and what property is, accordingly, referred to as property comprised in a settlement or as settled property.

(2)“Settlement” means any disposition or dispositions of property, whether effected by instrument, by parol or by operation of law, or partly in one way and partly in another, whereby the property is for the time being—

(a)held in trust for persons in succession or for any person subject to a contingency, or

(b)held by trustees on trust to accumulate the whole or part of any income of the property or with power to make payments out of that income at the discretion of the trustees or some other person, with or without power to accumulate surplus income, or

(c)charged or burdened (otherwise than for full consideration in money or money’s worth paid for his own use or benefit to the person making the disposition) with the payment of any annuity or other periodical payment payable for a life or any other limited or terminable period,

or would be so held or charged or burdened if the disposition or dispositions were regulated by the law of any part of the United Kingdom; or whereby, under the law of any other country, the administration of the property is for the time being governed by provisions equivalent in effect to those which would apply if the property were so held, charged or burdened.

(3)A lease of property which is for life or lives, or for a period ascertainable only by reference to a death, or which is terminable on, or at a date ascertainable only by reference to, a death, shall be treated as a settlement and the property as settled property, unless the lease was granted for full consideration in money or money’s worth; and where a lease not granted as a lease at a rack rent is at any time to become a lease at an increased rent it shall be treated as terminable at that time.

(4)In relation to Scotland “settlement” also includes—

(a)an entail,

(b)any deed by virtue of which an annuity is charged on, or on the rents of, any property (the property being treated as the property comprised in the settlement), and

(c)any deed creating or reserving a proper liferent of any property whether heritable or moveable (the property from time to time subject to the proper liferent being treated as the property comprised in the settlement);

and for the purposes of this subsection “deed” includes any disposition, arrangement, contract, resolution, instrument or writing.

(5)In the application of this Act to Northern Ireland this section shall have effect as if references to property held in trust for persons included references to property standing limited to persons and as if the lease referred to in subsection (3) did not include a lease in perpetuity within the meaning of section 1 of the M1Renewable Leasehold Conversion Act 1849 or a lease to which section 37 of that Act applies.

44 Settlor.U.K.

(1)In this Act “settlor”, in relation to a settlement, includes any person by whom the settlement was made directly or indirectly, and in particular (but without prejudice to the generality of the preceding words) includes any person who has provided funds directly or indirectly for the purpose of or in connection with the settlement or has made with any other person a reciprocal arrangement for that other person to make the settlement.

(2)Where more than one person is a settlor in relation to a settlement and the circumstances so require, this Part of this Act (except section 48(4) to (6)) shall have effect in relation to it as if the settled property were comprised in separate settlements.

45 Trustee.U.K.

In this Act “trustee”, in relation to a settlement in relation to which there would be no trustees apart from this section, means any person in whom the settled property or its management is for the time being vested.

46 Interest in possession: Scotland.U.K.

In the application of this Act to Scotland, any reference to an interest in possession in settled property is a reference to an interest of any kind under a settlement by virtue of which the person in right of that interest is entitled to the enjoyment of the property or would be so entitled if the property were capable of enjoyment, including an interest of an assignee under an assignation of an interest of any kind (other than a reversionary interest) in property subject to a proper liferent; and the person in right of such an interest at any time shall be deemed to be entitled to a corresponding interest in the whole or any part of the property comprised in the settlement.

47 Reversionary interest.U.K.

In this Act “reversionary interest” means a future interest under a settlement, whether it is vested or contingent (including an interest expectant on the termination of an interest in possession which, by virtue of section 50 below, is treated as subsisting in part of any property) and in relation to Scotland includes an interest in the fee of property subject to a proper liferent.

48 Excluded property.U.K.

(1)A reversionary interest is excluded property unless—

(a)it has at any time been acquired (whether by the person entitled to it or by a person previously entitled to it) for a consideration in money or money’s worth, or

(b)it is one to which either the settlor or his spouse is or has been beneficially entitled, or

(c)it is the interest expectant on the determination of a lease treated as a settlement by virtue of section 43(3) above.

(2)In relation to a reversionary interest under a settlement made before 16th April 1976, subsection (1) above shall have effect with the omission of paragraph (b); and, if the person entitled to a reversionary interest under a settlement made on or after 16th April 1976 acquired the interest before 10th March 1981, that subsection shall have effect with the omission of the words “or has been” in paragraph (b).

(3)Where property comprised in a settlement is situated outside the United Kingdom—

(a)the property (but not a reversionary interest in the property) is excluded property unless the settlor was domiciled in the United Kingdom at the time the settlement was made, and

(b)section 6(1) above applies to a reversionary interest in the property but does not otherwise apply in relation to the property.

(4)Where securities issued by the Treasury subject to a condition of the kind mentioned in subsection (2) of section 6 above are comprised in a settlement, that subsection shall not apply to them; but the securities are excluded property if—

(a)a person [F3of a description specified in the condition in question] is entitled to a qualifying interest in possession in them, or

(b)no qualifying interest in possession subsists in them but it is shown that all known persons for whose benefit the settled property or income from it has been or might be applied, or who are or might become beneficially entitled to an interest in possession in it, are persons [F3of a description specified in the condition in question].

(5)Where—

(a)property ceased to be comprised in one settlement before 10th December 1981 and after 19th April 1978 and, by the same disposition, became comprised in another settlement, or

(b)property ceased to be comprised in one settlement after 9th December 1981 and became comprised in another without any person having in the meantime become beneficially entitled to the property (and not merely to an interest in possession in the property),

subsection (4)(b) above shall, in its application to the second settlement, be construed as requiring the matters there stated to be shown both in relation to the property comprised in that settlement and in relation to the property that was comprised in the first settlement.

(6)Subsection (5) above shall not apply where a reversionary interest in the property expectant on the termination of a qualifying interest in possession subsisting under the first settlement was settled on the trusts of the second settlement before 10th December 1981.

(7)In this section “qualifying interest in possession” has the same meaning as in Chapter III of this Part of this Act.