Death Estate and Trust Inheritance Tax
Death estates, lifetime transfers on death, exemptions, reliefs, residence nil-rate band and trust charges.
How to study the ATT Qualification
Use Finance Act 2025 for the 2026 tax papers, complete the three foundational CBEs early, apply professional ethics throughout and concentrate option practice on the one paper you will enter.
Core concepts
Concept 1
Death IHT aggregates the taxable estate, failed lifetime transfers and applicable reliefs.
Exam cue: Build the death estate from assets, liabilities, exemptions and reliefs.
Concept 2
Business, agricultural and other exemptions or reliefs depend on detailed asset and ownership conditions.
Exam cue: Recalculate lifetime transfers chronologically where death changes the charge.
Concept 3
Relevant-property trusts may face entry, principal and exit charges.
Exam cue: Classify the trust and charge event before computing.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Deducting a liability that is not allowable.
Guardrail: Do not use an obsolete tax rate, assume a relief, ignore legal form, submit unsupported information or omit the relevant deadline and ethical response.
Assuming every business interest qualifies for full relief.
Guardrail: Do not use an obsolete tax rate, assume a relief, ignore legal form, submit unsupported information or omit the relevant deadline and ethical response.
Applying individual nil-rate rules unchanged to a trust charge.
Guardrail: Do not use an obsolete tax rate, assume a relief, ignore legal form, submit unsupported information or omit the relevant deadline and ethical response.
Memory anchors
Death estate
Assets less allowable liabilities, exemptions and reliefs form the taxable estate.
Failed PET
Death within seven years can bring a PET into the death computation.
RNRB
Check qualifying residence, direct descendants and taper conditions.
Relevant property
Identify entry, ten-year principal and exit charge events.
Relief conditions
Test asset type, use, ownership period and exclusions.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
A death estate is £625,000 after liabilities and exemptions, with no residence nil-rate band and a £325,000 nil-rate band available. At 40%, what IHT arises?
A deceased leaves a qualifying residence to a direct descendant and has a full £175,000 residence nil-rate band. What is the maximum additional band before taper?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
What is Pass Harbor?
Completely free exam prep for 247 UK exams.
- Practice questions
- Flashcards
- Study guides
- Mock exams
- No registration
- No paywall
- Start instantly
“No more expensive exam prep. Quality study tools should be accessible to everyone.”