How can we reduce inheritance tax on my mother's property?

My sister and I would like to be joint owners of my mother’s house to reduce liability on her estate Q Would I, together with my sister, be able to become a joint owner of my mother’s property so that the house wouldn’t be counted as part of her estate for inheritance tax purposes? Is this possible and if so what is the best way to go about this? MN A Yes it’s perfectly possible for you and your sister to become joint owners of your mother’s house (assuming that’s what your mother wants to happen). But unless you and your sister go and live in the house with your mother – and carry on living there until her death – the whole of the value of the property rather than just the value of your mother’s share will be taken into account when working out how much inheritance tax is due. Giving away a part or the whole of something – whether it’s a property or a valuable antique painting, for example – while continuing to benefit from it makes it not a proper gift or a “gift with reservation” in the eyes of HMRC and so