In this year’s Autumn Statement, George Osborne announced legislation allowing a surviving spouse or civil partner to inherit the value of their deceased spouse or civil partner’s ISA assets.
This will be implemented by granting the surviving spouse an increased ISA allowance equal to the amount contained in the deceased’s ISA for up to three years after death.
Additionally, the defined additional assets do not have to be sourced directly from the spouse’s ISA, and can be transferred from any existing assets.
According to Old Mutual Wealth, the amendments will permit non-UK residents to transfer a deceased partner’s assets to invest in a UK ISA, despite this being prohibited by previous legislation.
The deceased’s assets must be held in an ISA from before they became non-resident.
Rachael Griffin, head of technical marketing at Old Mutual Wealth, said: “This is an unusual situation, but is important for non-UK resident investors and their financial advisers.
“As the amendments are currently drafted, from April 2015, non-UK resident individuals will be able to invest in ISAs in the UK if their deceased spouse held an ISA from before they became non-resident.
“Cash subscriptions can be made up to three years after the death of a spouse, but in-specie transfers of existing investments will need to be made within six months.”
Osborne also used the Autumn Statement to announce a “U-turn” on plans to introduce a single settlement nil rate band on trusts.
