Mediating estate disputes involving art and heritage property

Key points

• In practice disputes over any estate assets have to be settled before the asset can be sold.
• HMRC encourages owners to retain heritage property.
• An object is pre-eminent if it has particular significance say in relation to the UK’s history or national life.
• Four tax incentive schemes are available for dispositions of art and heritage property.
• Issues for a mediator to probe to ensure the chargeable estate is handled tax efficiently.

‘First electricity now telephones. Sometimes I feel as if I were living in an HG Wells novel.’ (Dowager Countess Violet Crawley Downton Abbey).

‘The existence of a dispute over ownership raises a practical problem for anyone seeking to sell the artwork. ... Unless the owner is able to successfully challenge the ownership claim potential buyers ... may well be put off buying the artwork.’ (Art Law And The Business Of Art by Martin...