UK inheritance tax presents a distinctive and often urgent financing challenge for families with UK property, particularly international families and non-doms whose UK-situated assets remain within the scope of UK inheritance tax even where other assets are held outside the UK's tax net. HM Revenue and Customs generally expects inheritance tax to be paid within six months of death, well before the probate process required to sell a property or access other estate assets is typically complete.
Speak to GMG about releasing equity from your UK property. Donald Klip, Co-Founder and CIO, Global Mortgage Group.
[email protected] | +65 9773 0273 | www.gmg.asia
This timing mismatch, a tax liability due in six months, against a probate and property sale process that can take considerably longer, creates a genuine liquidity problem for beneficiaries, even where the estate itself, once fully realised, is more than sufficient to cover the liability. Families are sometimes forced into a rushed, discounted property sale purely to raise cash for a tax bill, when a properly structured bridging facility could avoid that forced sale entirely.
How Bridging Finance Solves the Timing Mismatch
A bridging facility secured against the property itself, or against other estate assets, can provide the liquidity needed to settle an inheritance tax liability on time, while the fuller and more considered process of probate, valuation and eventual sale or transfer of the property proceeds on its own timeline. This avoids the value destruction that often accompanies a forced, rushed sale conducted purely to meet a tax deadline rather than to achieve the best price.
"We see families who would clearly be better off waiting eighteen months to sell a Belgravia house properly, forced instead into a rushed six-month sale purely because of an inheritance tax deadline. A bridging facility against the estate is very often the difference between a forced, discounted sale and a considered one at the right time."
- Donald Klip, Co-Founder and CIO, Global Mortgage Group
Coordinating With Executors and Probate Solicitors
This kind of facility requires close coordination with the estate's executors and probate solicitors, since the lender needs comfort around the estate's overall position, the expected timeline to probate, and the ultimate source of repayment, whether that is a property sale, other estate assets, or funds contributed by beneficiaries. Families anticipating this kind of liquidity gap, particularly where a UK property forms a significant part of an international family's estate, benefit from planning this financing route in advance rather than scrambling for a solution once a tax deadline is already looming.
Addressing an Inheritance Tax Liquidity Gap
- UK inheritance tax is generally due within six months of death, often before probate and sale can complete
- Bridging finance secured against the estate can prevent a forced, discounted property sale
- Close coordination with executors and probate solicitors is essential to structure this kind of facility
- Families with significant UK property in an international estate benefit from planning this route in advance
About Global Mortgage Group
Global Mortgage Group (GMG) is a Singapore-headquartered cross-border real estate finance firm operating across 23+ jurisdictions, specialising in equity release, bridging loans and structured property finance for international property owners. GMG works with private clients, family offices and their advisers to unlock capital held in prime residential real estate.
Donald Klip, Co-Founder and CIO
[email protected] | +65 9773 0273 | www.gmg.asia
This is the final article in the Strategy section of GMG's Unlocked in the UK series. The next section covers named developments marketed to overseas investors, starting with Battersea Power Station.
