Inheritance Tax Planning

Even moderately wealthy individuals and couples should now consider undertaking a review of their estate in order that IHT is minimised. Without any planning, many people find that a substantial liability is left on death resulting in lower bequests than anticipated.

As most people know, IHT is charged at 40% on the value of the estate over the ‘nil rate’ threshold and even now with the ability to use the first spouse’s nil rate band on second death, this still leaves a large proportion of the UK population at risk.

However, with some careful planning during ones lifetime, the IHT burden can be significantly reduced. We firstly ascertain what your likely IHT exposure will be and prepare a plan for you to reduce your exposure through methods such as:

• Gifts during lifetime utilising tax free allowances
• Renew of wills and tax efficient changes thereto
• The use of trusts
• Options with the family home
• Options with business/ agricultural assets
• Ownership/ sale of assets to children/ family/ spouse

We work with other professionals where required to tailor or expand our recommendations accordingly in response to your specific circumstances.