Parents often want to help their children buy a first property but that is sometimes mixed with concern about the potential risk of losing some of the family wealth – for example, if the child enters a relationship that fails with the risk that some assets are shared with the partner. For the purposes of this article, the child is aged 18 or over.

Below, I have highlighted some of the options that can be considered. All have their merits for different reasons. In practice, the objective to preserve wealth long term often trumps some of the tax considerations when it comes to deciding just what to do.

Gift of cash sum to child