Inheritance Tax Act 1984 section 11

Dispositions for maintenance of family

Section 11 exempts certain family maintenance payments and provisions from being treated as transfers of value for inheritance tax purposes.

• Payments between spouses or civil partners (including former ones) for maintenance, and for the maintenance, education or training of their children up to age 18 or the end of full-time education, are not transfers of value.
• Maintenance, education or training payments for a child not in parental care are also exempt, provided the person making the payment had substantially cared for the child before the child turned 18.
• Reasonable provision for the care or maintenance of a dependent relative — meaning a relative incapacitated by old age or infirmity, or a parent or parent-in-law — is not a transfer of value.
• Where a disposition only partly meets the exemption conditions, the qualifying and non-qualifying parts are treated as separate dispositions.