Inheritance Tax Advice
Pass on your Wealth and Reduce your Inheritance Tax Bill
Every year, more and more people will find that a large proportion of their estate will be subject to Inheritance Tax (IHT) when they die.
Your estate is made up of your home, your investments, and your prized possessions.
Through careful IHT planning, we can help build you a personalised plan to ensure that as much of your estate as possible is passed on to those you care about, rather than to HMRC.
There are a number of strategies, such as careful gifting, using available tax allowances and reliefs, as well as setting up trusts which can help minimise the impact of inheritance tax.
A Lasting Legacy - Protect your Assets
We understand how important it is to ensure your wealth is protected and for you family and future generations. We help create strategies which will help to safeguard your assets for the future, as well as minimise the impact of inheritance Tax on your estate.
Personalised Estate Planning
Your estate and family circumstances are unique to you, and however complex your situation, we will take you through our estate planning process, step by step. We take the time to get to understand your specific concerns, and aspirations, to help you build your own bespoke estate plan.
Making Sense of Inheritance Tax
Inheritance tax and estate planning is a notoriously complex area and when done well can be a very powerful tool in preserving your legacy for future generations. When done poorly however, it can lead to those left behind faced with uncertainty and unexpected costs.
We help you to make sense of the inheritance tax landscape, and devise a strategy which is easy to understand, well documented and aligned with your goals and wishes.
When do I pay Inheritance Tax?
Everyone has an individual nil-rate band of £325,000 which can be passed on without any inheritance tax liability. If your estate is above £325,000, it will be subject to IHT.
Calculating the value of your estate and then the tax liability, is not always straight forward, but very simply, if your estate is calculated as £500,000, you would subtract your £325,000 of nil-rate band, leaving £175,000 which would be taxable at 40%.
What is the Residence Nil-Rate Band?
Your main home often makes up a large part of your overall wealth and, where this is the case, you may be entitled to an additional £175,000 of tax free allowance on your estate.
Providing you are;
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Passing on your main home (this will be where you were living immediately prior to your death)
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Passing this home to children (including step, foster or adopted) or grandchildren
then the value of this home, up to a maximum of £175,000, will be added to your nil-rate band of £325,000.
This means, including your main home, you could have an estate value of £500,000, before incurring an inheritance liability.
For married couples or those in a civil partnership, these allowances can be combined, meaning that potentially the first £1,000,000 of the couple's assets, would be free from IHT.
Inheritance Tax Calculations are rarely this straight forward, with additional complications and rules to be aware of, and so it is often wise to seek help with this if you are unsure.
What We Cover
Questions We Answer
How can I reduce inheritance tax on my estate?
Various avenues exist such as using trusts, gifting, allowances, and smart use of exemptions, and our advisers can help recommend the most suitable ways to help preserve family wealth as far as possible, while also supporting your own long term financial security.
How can I protect my business assets for future generations?
Succession planning, trusts, and shareholder agreements can all help protect your business and family wealth when structured correctly and when they are aligned with your own goals within a financial plan.
How do I make sure my family is financially secure after I’m gone?
Similarly to the above, a well-structured financial plan will consider how your wealth could be distributed to help support your loved ones after you’re gone. Where appropriate, this may include the use of insurance, wills, trusts, and other estate-planning strategies.
Do I need a will or a trust?
A will is an essential part of helping to ensure that your wishes are followed rather than you dying intestate, where your wealth would be distributed according to the rules of intestacy; a trust could potentially offer more control and tax efficiency under some circumstances but is dependent on your overall financial plan.
Estate planning is complex and subject to individual circumstances and utilising certain tax saving strategies can involve risk, particularly where investments are concerned.
Tax rules and law can also change over time and so it is important to engage with qualified planners to ensure that the strategies remain viable.
Please note that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) does not regulate some aspects of cash flow, estate or tax planning, or trust advice.
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"They took time to understand what matters to me, explained options and never pressed. I left with real peace of mind and a plan I understand and trust. They are without doubt knowledgeable, trustworthy, transparent, and reliable - thank you Matt Bennett."
Ian Davies
