Estate Duty

Estate duty was abolished for those who died after 17 December 1992. However, at least two political parties propose to reintroduce estate duty.

For this reason some prefer to form what are known as "mirror trusts". Mirror trusts were principally used to avoid payment of estate duty. This is where one spouse gives assets to a trust for the benefit of the other spouse and vice versa. See our section on Trusts for more information.

If estate duty is re-introduced it is likely new legislation will not allow you to avoid estate duty by creating mirror trusts as the only purpose of mirror trusts was to avoid estate duty.

The information on this web site is of a general nature only. Readers are advised to establish the applicability of information in relation to specific circumstances and not to rely solely on the information provided here.