I would be grateful for your views on the following scenario. Many years ago mother purchased a property to live in with her adult son. Subsequently and also many years ago, mother gifted the property to her son and the two of them continued to live there together sharing all outgoings. A few years ago, son made a Will leaving his mother a life interest in the property, remainder to his siblings. In July 2019 mother moved into long term nursing care. Son continued to live alone in the property and then also moved into the same care home as his mother. Son died in January 2020 and mother continues to live in the care home. The property has recently been sold by son’s PRs (in order for the proceeds of sale to be invested for the benefit of mother for the rest of her life) realising a gain (difference between the probate value of the property and sale price) of £19,000. Will this gain be covered by PPR as a result of the final period allowance and, if so, how is it claimed?
No. The final period to which you refer [TCGA 1992 s 223(1)] could only apply on a disposal by the son during his lifetime.
The PRs on any disposal need to satisfy TCGA 1992 s 225A which it appears is not the case.
For information, re any claim by the PRs HMRC provide:
" In your computation of the gain on any relevant disposal included with the Capital Gains Tax summary pages CG 1 to CG 4, either in box 54 on page CG 3 or in your attached computation, write that ‘Private Residence Relief is claimed’ and state the amount of relief claimed. In addition enter code PRR (where Lettings Relief does not apply) or LET (where Lettings Relief does apply) in box 8".
In a similar case, I had completed form SA905. I claimed for Private Residence Relief however HMRC said that we needed to pay the liability and then they will check whether the PRR claim is valid or not. They have now confirmed that a refund is due. Pointless exercise but that is what the HMRC asked us to do. Remember to deduct any allowance expenses.