Gift duty was abolished on 1 October 2011 after being part of the legal landscape for many years. Most, if not all, practitioners currently in practice prepared documents and advised clients against the background of long-standing gift duty laws.

The abolition of gift duty 12 months ago means that all assets can now be given away immediately, although as we will point out later in this booklet, gifting programmes are still subject to the rules about natural love and affection for the donee. The removal of gift duty has been a significant change and the following issues have arisen:

1. Clients with historical gifting programmes need to decide whether to continue those programmes or, if not, what action they need to take.
2. Some clients appear confused and think that they no longer need to do any gifting at all.
3. Where in the past the giving of advice was relatively straight-forward because of the limits on what could be gifted, it is now far from simple to advise clients.

Our view is that the advice to be given to clients depends on the reason for wanting to give funds or property away. Is it intended to preserve assets from relationship property claims, protect assets from creditors or to attempt to qualify for residential care subsidies or other State assistance? Each of these possibilities needs to be considered separately. These issues are relevant whether money or property is given to a trust or a family member or anyone else.