Exemption of certain transfers by qualified cohabitants

Certain transfers made by a qualified cohabitant, on or after 1 January 2011, to another qualified cohabitant are exempt from Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT).

The transfer must have been made under Part 15 of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 (CPCROC Act 2010).

A qualified cohabitant may apply to court for redress in respect of certain benefits from another qualified cohabitant. A gift or inheritance taken on foot of a Court Order under Part 15 of the CPCROC Act 2010, is exempt from CAT.

Some examples to which the exemption apply are:

• transfer of property
• maintenance payments
• property or pension adjustment orders
• a benefit from the net estate of a deceased cohabitant.

Qualified cohabitants are former cohabitants who have been in a relationship for a minimum period of:

• two years where they are parents of one or more dependent children
• or
• five years in all other cases
• and 
• whose relationship has ended by death or separation
• and
• neither person was married to and living with another person in four of the five years before the relationship ended.