Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Asset definition

What does Asset mean? In legal practice, an asset is any thing of economic value that a person or entity owns or controls and can realise, transfer, secure or enforce. The term is descriptive and used across contexts (company law, trusts, matrimonial finance, probate, enforcement and insolvency), with specific legislation or rules defining it for particular purposes (for example, insolvency, taxation and financial services). Assets include land and buildings, cash and bank balances, securities (shares, bonds and other fixed‑income instruments), receivables, contractual rights (choses in action), intellectual property, goodwill and, increasingly, cryptoassets. Assets may comprise legal or equitable interests and can be tangible or...

Transfers between spouses and civil partners: UK IHT, CGT and income tax—spousal exemptions, FA 2025 long-term residence, anti-avoidance, separation rules, and planning using NRB, TNRB and RNRB

Published by a LexisNexis Private Client expert

Practice notes

It is common for spoUses or civil partners to wish to give gifts to one another, as sharing possessions is a familiar feature of coupledom. This reflects the everyday reality of jointly owned property and pooled resources. The label ‘spouses’ in this Practice Note covers both married pairs and those in a registered civil partnership, of any gender. For clarity, the term is applied inclusively and neutrally. Balancing the pair’s holdings so each enjoys personal financial stability can be prudent, and it also opens up the widest opportunities for tax planning. For instance, where one spouse is taxed on income at a higher rate than the other, it is logical to shift more income-producing assets to the spouse taxed at lower rates. An equivalent approach works for capital gains tax (CGT): aim for each spouse to use their annual exemption on chargeable disposals and to be taxed at the lowest rates available. Since spouses may transfer assets between themselves without triggering inheritance tax (IHT), CGT or income tax, there is extensive scope to arrange their finances in the most tax-efficient way, both now and in future planning, for the couple together...

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Emma Haley

Boodle Hatfield LLP

Emma Haley, TEP, is a senior associate at Boodle Hatfield with many years experience in dealing with all aspects of wills, capital taxation and succession planning as well as UK and offshore trusts. Emma currently heads up the technical know-how team for the Private Client & Tax department and is responsible for in-house training, knowledge management and precedents. Boodle Hatfield is a leading private client law firm, renowned for providing first-class and practical legal advice to wealthy clients around the world. Boodle Hatfield advises on all issues affecting private clients from succession and estate planning to resolving trust and estate disputes, or advising on family breakdown....

Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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