TWO elderly sisters who live together are taking the Government to the European Court of Human Rights in an attempt to get the same inheritance tax rights as gay and lesbian couples.

Joyce and Sybil Burden have lived together since birth. But if one of them dies the other will face a large inheritance tax bill, and have to sell their house to meet the cost.

The sisters want the law changed so that cohabiting siblings have the same rights as married couples, which exempts the surviving half from inheritance duty.

Joyce Burden, 88, and Sybil, 80, decided to act after the Civil Partnership Act 2004 granted the same right to gay and lesbian couples, but not to cohabiting family members.

Their case is due to be heard before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on September 12.

Sybil Burden said: “We are looked down upon for being single. We just want to be treated as equal citizens and given the rights we deserve. We’ve saved the Government thousands by caring for our elderly sick relatives till they passed away and have never claimed a penny apart from the pension.

“Our father, who was a farmer and a Methodist preacher, worked so hard all his life for this house, so why should it be taken away from his family?”

The sisters grew up on their parents’ farm near Marlborough, Wiltshire, with three brothers and a third sister. They moved to nearby Pangbourne in 1948, but moved back to Rectory Farm after their father Frank died in 1965, aged 75. The family then built a four-bedroom home on part of the 30-acre farm, where the sisters have lived since. They live on the income from leasing out the farm. The house is worth £425,000, or £550,000 with the 30 acres of farmland. Other property they own brings their total assets to £875,000.

The sisters have written to the Chancellor before the Budget every year since 1976 asking for inheritance tax law for siblings to be overhauled. But in March 2005 they wrote to the European courts without any legal advice and were stunned when it accepted their case.

Their letter read: “In desperation we write to you, for, as second-class citizens, we seek justice against the unfair laws we live with in the British Isles.”

The sisters, who are not eligible for legal aid, have now turned to their family solicitors for professional help, and expect their legal bill to top £20,000 if the case reaches court. A hearing was originally scheduled for July 4 but was postponed because the Government had not fully prepared its case.

Joyce Burden said: “They’re just hoping we die before we get to court. But they don’t know how determined we are to see this through.”

Sybil Burden said: “We’re not even asking for death duty to be completely abolished. We just want to be treated as equal citizens and given the rights we deserve.”

Inheritance tax has a £285,000 threshold, a 40 per cent rate and raises about £3 billion a year. It is paid by 6 per cent of estates, but rising house prices have prompted calls for the threshold to be lifted.