This is a question that Alistair Lexden has asked several times in the Lords. In 2017, he introduced a Private Member’s Bill, which would have meant that inheritance tax could be postponed on the death of the first of two siblings who had shared a home for many years.
He returned to this issue on 20 June through an oral question in the Lords.
He pointed out that “the Government say that two people who have shared a jointly owned home for years must be in a legal relationship if inheritance tax is to be deferred when they are parted by death. May I remind the Government that they blocked my Private Member’s Bill to open up civil partnerships to siblings after its Second Reading, when it gained wide support across the House? The Bill would have enabled siblings to establish legal relationships and solved the problem.”
He continued: “Why on earth should the postponement of tax on the death of the first of two people united in a loving association for years require sexual activity between them? Why should the survivor of a chaste relationship have to face the agony of selling the family home on the death of a loved partner to pay an inheritance tax bill? “
He concluded: “Have this Government no compassion?”
The totally unhelpful answer he was given by the relevant Lords Minister showed that they do not have compassion for a small group of brothers and sisters who have lived their adult lives together in jointly owned homes, and are consumed by worry about what will happen to their partner when they die.
None of those who contributed from all sides of the House to the short ensuing discussion supported the Government’s deplorable position.
