The extra £175,000 IHT allowance for passing a home to direct descendants — who qualifies, how to claim it, and how it interacts with the standard nil rate band.
This guide is part of ProbateHelp's Inheritance Tax guide cluster. Estimated reading time: 12 min.
Not necessarily. If the property passes by survivorship (for example, a joint tenancy between spouses), the RNRB can still apply on the second death. What matters is that the property ultimately passes to direct descendants.
Only if they owned a residential property at some point and sold or downsized it after 8 July 2015. In that case, the downsizing addition may allow the RNRB to be claimed against other assets in the estate.
It depends on the type of trust. Certain trusts — including immediate post-death interest trusts and bereaved minor's trusts — can qualify. Others do not. If the will creates a trust, check with a solicitor whether the RNRB still applies.
Not necessarily. The taper reduces the available RNRB by £1 for every £2 over £2 million. If the estate would otherwise have one full £175,000 RNRB, the allowance reaches nil at £2.35 million. A different extinction point can apply where transferred RNRB is available or the qualifying home limits the allowance.
The RNRB applies to the estate, not separately to each beneficiary. The amount is limited to the lower of the available RNRB and the value of the qualifying home or share inherited by direct descendants, and it may also be reduced by the £2 million taper.
Yes, but you will need to reconstruct what you can. HMRC can sometimes access old records. A solicitor who specialises in probate can help you gather the evidence needed to support the claim.