Member

The Government have acknowledged that there are some challenges for personal representatives. The changes announced at the Budget mitigate the risks to personal representatives by providing them with the ability to direct pension scheme administrators to withhold taxable benefits for up to 15 months from the date of death and to make payments of inheritance tax directly to HMRC. That, of course, will not apply to pension benefits exempt from inheritance tax, including those being left to a spouse or civil partner, pension funds under £1,000 and continuing annuities. The Government will also publish regulations this year to provide the right framework to allow personal representatives and pension schemes to exchange all necessary information for inheritance tax purposes. The changes announced at the Budget also protect personal representatives from the risk that pension pots emerge later. For those reasons, new clause 19 is not necessary and should be rejected.