I am now the sole owner of a property I lived in and jointly owned with my late wife over 20 years ago. The property has been rented over the last 15 years, and now I am selling it. I intend to gift two-thirds of the proceeds to our two adult children. Could you please let me know the capital gains tax position here?

Arthur Weller replies.
HMRC guidance in the Capital Gains manual (www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-gainsmanual/cg64950 (and the next two pages there, CG64953, CG64955)) say that when you inherited from your wife when she died, you took over her principal private residence (PPR) 'history' in the property. So, if you sell the property now you will be entitled to PPR relief for all the period you occupied the property, plus relief for the final eighteen months of ownership. Additionally, you can claim the letting exemption to reduce the gain attributable to the fifteen years you rented out the property.