Interests in possession: a critique of Hall v HMRC

Abstract

Abstract Does a beneficiary with a life interest in a particular property under a will have an enforceable right to occupy that property in circumstances where a third party voluntarily pays an estate debt that could only otherwise have been satisfied by the executors selling the property? The recent decision in Hall v HMRC [2023] UKFTT 32 (TC) held that no such right existed and, as a result, the life-interest beneficiary did not have an ‘interest in possession’ for inheritance tax purposes. This article questions that result by arguing that the third-party payments discharged the estate debt and granted the life-interest beneficiary an enforceable right to occupy the property following the administration of the estate such that an ‘interest in possession’ must arise.