Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) in an ISA

You are eligible for an APS allowance if you were married or in a civil partnership with someone who died on or after 3 December 2014. 

The APS allowance rules depend on when your spouse or civil partner died. 

If your spouse or civil partner died between 3 December 2014 and 6 April 2018, the value of their ISA at the time of their death becomes your APS allowance. 

If the deceased passed away after 6 April 2018, their ISA will become a "continuing ISA". This means the funds in the ISA will retain their tax-free status and can still benefit from growth, although no more money can be added to it. 

The ISA will keep its "continuing" status until either the administration of the deceased's estate is completed, the ISA is closed with all funds withdrawn, or the third anniversary of their death - whichever comes first. In this event, the APS is either the value of the ISA on your spouse or civil partner's death, or on the date it stops being a continuing ISA - whichever is higher. 

The APS allowance is added to the surviving partner's existing ISA allowance. If the deceased had investments in their ISA, they can be transferred into the beneficiary's ISA without being sold, as long as both had their ISAs with the same provider. 

APS subscriptions should be made within 180 days of the deceased person's assets being dispersed to the surviving spouse or civil partner. 

You can transfer your APS allowance to a new provider, if they accept APS accounts. This can be done only once, and only if you have not yet made any contributions to your APS allowance. If you have already made contributions to your APS, then you can transfer your ISA to another provider using the normal transfer process. 

The APS allowance will be added to your current-year ISA allowance. For example, if your spouse or civil partner's ISA was valued at £25,000, it will be added to your allowance of £20,000 to give a total allowance of £45,000.

No, the APS allowance can be subscribed in one go or in instalments over the course of the tax year. 

If your spouse or civil partner had ISAs with multiple providers, you will have a separate APS with each provider they had an ISA with. If they had ISAs with one provider, then the value of them will be combined to give you a total APS allowance.

Cash can be transferred directly. Investments from the deceased spouse or civil partner's ISA can be transferred directly if both parties' ISAs are with the same provider. Otherwise they will need to be sold and repurchased within the new ISA. 

If the value of assets has decreased, an additional subscription can be made in cash up to the total value of the ISA on the spouse or civil partner's death. If the spouse or civil partner died before 5 April 2018, and the value of the assets has risen since their death. only assets to the value of the ISA on death can be transferred. 

You can still inherit your spouse or civil partner's ISA allowance regardless of who they left their money or investments to. For example, if your spouse or partner had an ISA worth £50,000, which they left to someone else, you would still be entitled to an increased ISA allowance of £50,000. However, you would need to use your own money to make your APS subscriptions. 

If you are between 16 and 18, you are entitled to claim an APS allowance, but it can only be transferred into a cash ISA.

No, you can transfer your APS allowance to any provider, subject to the provider's acceptance. If you have already made subscriptions to your APS allowance, you can transfer your ISA via the normal process.