Deceased (D) originally held her property in sole name and wrote a Will leaving her interest in the property to her daughter (A) free of IHT.
D later transferred the property into the the joint names of herself and A (with whom she co-occupied the property) as joint tenants. Shortly afterwards, she executed a codicil re-publishing the Will (but not making any change to the legacy of the property).
Following D’s death, A would receive D’s share of the property by survivorship and the legacy in the Will would lapse. However, there is a substantial IHT liability. I believe A would ordinarily be liable for this IHT (s.211 IHTA). Is it possible for the wording of the legacy to change this conclusion so that the PRs will be liable for IHT as an admin expense for the free estate?
I would have thought not given that the legacy lapsed, but s.211(2) provides that the normal rule is subject to contrary intention in the Will.
Tobias Gleed-Owen
Hewitsons LLP
(EDIT - my original question contained a typo referring to individuals A and B. In fact, the recipient of the lifetime gift & the legacy and the surviving joint tenant are all the same person (A))