Lifetime APR/BPR Planning

This talk will consider key issues in lifetime planning involving Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR), focusing on how reliefs can be used effectively during lifetime transfers and the planning structures that may be appropriate for farms and trading businesses, including: 

• The value of gifting to a spouse so they can utilise the £2.5m allowance, and potentially more where 50% relief applies
• Ensuring the relief can effectively be “banked” on the first death in case of a later sale of the asset or loss of BPR (e.g. where the business ceases to be mainly trading) before the second death
• Lifetime succession planning and use of the £2.5m allowance – when it becomes renewable (noting Rose’s reply to Claire regarding the trust allowance)
• How the trust allowance will operate where gifts are made after 5 April 2026
• Asset protection considerations in lifetime gifting, and the value (and limits) of using trusts compared with alternatives such as pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements
• Structures to consider, including partnerships for farming businesses compared with trading company structures
• Any specific rural issues to be aware of in this context

Naomi Neville, Solicitor, Partner, Irwin Mitchell