Transfering property in Spain into UK company

I have 3 properties 2 of them were built with my sons money so they belong to him but they are in my name my lawyer at the time did not advise me to put them in my sons name, I am getting older and property prices are low so I do not want to sell the houses I just want the 2 my son has an interest in to be in his name my lawyer says to put them in a UK company my son has a Uk company already in UK. I have a son and a daughter in UK so if this is the way to go should I also put the house that me and my wife live in into this same company, we are a close family so my children want whats best for us ,and we want whats best for them.

Dear ConfusedinSpain,

Putting the two properties in your son´s UK company´s name will allow you to "hide " the ownership of these, however, it will not avoid the obligation to pay any due tax. The best way to distribute the properties is to put them in the name of Spanish or UK Companies that will be later managed by your children. You can put two properties in the name of one UK company and another property in another separate UK company and then later on they can transfer the shares. The tax office does not need to be made aware of the transfer of these shares.

If after 4 years and six months after your decease, the tax authorities have not claimed the payment -as they have not been made aware of the decease-, your children will not be liable any longer for the payment of the Inheritance tax, as the obligation expires.

I hope you are less confused now!

Best Regards,