A Guide to Inheritance Tax

Welcome to our Guide to Inheritance Tax, dedicated to helping you reduce or even mitigate the potential effects of Inheritance Tax on your estate, whether you are considering the use of family trusts or alternative solutions. Your wealth might encompass businesses, property and investments in the UK and abroad that require specialist considerations.

Helping you protect your wealth is an important part of what we do, and one thing is certain, you need to plan to protect your wealth form a potential Inheritance Tax liability. Benjamin Franklin once said that ‘nothing is certain but death and taxes,’ and thanks to Inheritance Tax, they’re not only certain, they’re intrinsically linked. Once only the domain of the very wealthy, the wide-scale increase in home ownership and rising property values over the past decade, has pushed many estates over the Inheritance Tax threshold.

Inheritance Tax applies to your entire worldwide estate including your property, investments and savings, your car, your furniture and personal effects and the proceeds of your life insurance, unless it is written in an appropriate trust.

Inheritance Tax as we know it today was introduced in 1986. The current rate of Inheritance Tax for everyone is charged at 40 per cent, and is paid by those that inherit. It is deducted from your estate on death, so inheritance tax is relevant whether you stand to gain an inheritance or you plan to leave one.

You should also consider all of your investments, pensions and life insurance policies and ensure that life polices are held in an appropriate trust so they do not add to the value of your estate.

If you would like to discuss the options available that could protect your legacy, please contact us for further information. We can help you with the many aspects of Inheritance Tax Planning, from advice on wills, trusts, and other tax efficient ways to ensure your wealth is best structured for your beneficiaries.

Dispelling the myth
about inheritance tax.
Protecting wealth from a potential liability.

Transferring wealth between your spouse or civil partner.
New rules could mean up to double the Inheritance Tax allowance is available.

Inheritance Tax matters.
Leaving your assets.

Making a will.
Will your estate be shared out
exactly as you want it to be?

Valuing an estate.
Accurately reflecting what those assets would receive in the open market.

Financial reasons to make a will.
Putting it off could mean that your spouse receives less.

Legal documents.
Applying for probate.

Alternative Investment Market shares.
Reducing an Inheritance Tax
liability on an estate.

Minimising an Inheritance Tax liability.
Passing assets to beneficiaries
using a trust.

Important exemptions.
Legally passing your estate without it being subject to Inheritance Tax.

A gift with reservation.
Making sure the gift is not a gift
for Inheritance Tax purposes.

Arranging to pay Inheritance Tax.
Who will handle your affairs?

Protecting your wealth.
Making the most of different solutions.

Inheritance Tax facts
1 in 40 people in the UK inherit an average of £17,500 each year. The total after tax is £31 billion.

Inheritance Tax glossary.
Common estate planning terms.