Gifts Not Part of Estate, Rules Court

An assertion that cash gifts of £100,000 each to his two daughters should be considered to be part of a deceased man’s estate was given short shrift by the court recently.

The gifts were made from the proceeds of the sale of the man’s house, in recognition of the support his daughters had given him in recent years. The house sold for £350,000 and was his only significant asset.

The man’s will divided the bulk of his estate between his three children and his son sought a ruling that the amounts already paid to his sisters were part of the estate (i.e. debts due to the estate).

The High Court rejected the challenge and accepted that the man’s estate on death consisted of his other assets but did not include the £200,000.