Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 Schedule 4 paragraph 25

Exercise of options: death

Paragraph 25 of Schedule 4 deals with what happens to share options under a SAYE option scheme when the participant dies before exercising them.

• A SAYE option scheme may include provisions allowing options to be exercised after a participant's death
• If the participant dies before exercising their options, those options do not automatically lapse
• The options may be exercised at any time on or after the date of death
• The deadline for exercising the options is 12 months after the date of death