Tax-Efficient Wills
We don’t do Wills, but you definitely need one
Your Will is your declaration of how you want your assets to be managed or distributed when you die
Anyone can write a Will for you, and plenty offer to do exactly that but, beware, UK law places great emphasis on whether or not your Will is valid
If you’re reading this, then it’s likely that you have a few pennies to rub together, so get a specialist lawyer to do the job for you properly
Death is usually the very last opportunity HMRC gets to tax you and it’s an opportunity they’re not going to miss
Every person currently has a nil rate band of £325,000 for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes. Married couples, or those in civil partnerships, each have a nil rate band, so £650,000 in total
In addition, upon death, both partners or spouses have a main-residence nil rate band of up to £175,000 each, and it’s transferable between them
If your total assets are worth less, there’s no IHT to pay. Anything in excess, is taxed at 40%
So, do the numbers for your estate as, without planning, you’re likely leaving a sizeable legacy to the taxman. If that’s deliberate, that’s your choice, but oftentimes it’s not..
Let’s get our creative pants on..
You don’t have to die to use your nil-rate-band. You can use it right now, today. Gift, say, £650,000 into a Relevant Property Trust, survive 7 years and the entire amount is outside of your estate
Then in 7 years, you do it all over again, and again, and again – assuming you live long enough
Actually, you can probably gift a little more by using your annual exemptions for this year and last year
Simple planning which may save your family £279,200 every seven years
Under the heading of ‘close to useless exemptions’ are small gifts of £250, wedding gifts of up to £5,000
Potentially much more useful is ‘normal expenditure out of income’. It needs thought and planning and typically falls beyond the remit of bread and butter IHT planners. Rest assured, this topic has huge potential and it’ll be one of the areas we will focus on with you..
Other assets can pass tax-free at death too
Each person can have a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) or a Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS) fund of up to £1,073,000 which may pass tax-free
More interestingly, the entire value of a Qualifying Non-UK Pension Scheme (QNUPS) may be outside of IHT and the only limit is the amount of the contribution which must be ‘reasonable’
Life insurance and Death in Service benefits, when properly written in trust, are outside of the estate for IHT
Business Relief of up to 100% applies to shares in qualifying businesses, usually meaning trading companies
Up to 100% Agricultural Property Relief may be available to farmers
Without wishing to get technical, investments in Enterprise Investment Schemes, Venture Capital Trusts and those where Business Relief is available, are outside the scope of IHT
Testimonials
- “Having been a client for around 20 years, they have assisted us many times, always putting our interests first. They have always acted with honesty and integrity. With a wide network of professionals an answer is always found to whatever problem has been presented to them.”
- Richard Mancey
- Managing Director, Paultons Park Ltd
- “Acted for me since 1998. Great ability to look at the bigger picture and always with my interests uppermost. Well connected and typically brings other professionals in to the advice process”
- Patrick Trant
- Chairman, Trant Engineering Ltd
- “I have been a client for more than 10 years throughout which time I have found them to be professional and competent, operating as part of a team with a wide knowledge of tax and related planning. They put my interests first and are particularly good at explaining technical subject matter in a straightforward way”
- Anthony Mowatt
- Chairman, Keystone Legal Ltd a Sunday Times Top 100 Track company
- “In almost twenty years of working for us they have acted with honesty and integrity as one of our trusted advisers. We are always treated as important and nothing is too much trouble”
- John Reilly
- Managing Director, John Reilly (Civil Engineering) Ltd
- “Worked for me for more than 15 years on a variety of projects, large and small. They are particularly adept at using applied knowledge and expertise to work with their network of professionals to deliver my goals. I have found them very easy to work with and happily recommend them to others”
- John Clark
- Managing Director, T Clark & Son Ltd
- “Having been a client for around 20 years, they have assisted us many times, always putting our interests first. They have always acted with honesty and integrity. With a wide network of professionals an answer is always found to whatever problem has been presented to them.”
- Richard Mancey
- Managing Director, Paultons Park Ltd
- “Acted for me since 1998. Great ability to look at the bigger picture and always with my interests uppermost. Well connected and typically brings other professionals in to the advice process”
- Patrick Trant
- Chairman, Trant Engineering Ltd
- “I have been a client for more than 10 years throughout which time I have found them to be professional and competent, operating as part of a team with a wide knowledge of tax and related planning. They put my interests first and are particularly good at explaining technical subject matter in a straightforward way”
- Anthony Mowatt
- Chairman, Keystone Legal Ltd a Sunday Times Top 100 Track company
- “In almost twenty years of working for us they have acted with honesty and integrity as one of our trusted advisers. We are always treated as important and nothing is too much trouble”
- John Reilly
- Managing Director, John Reilly (Civil Engineering) Ltd
- “Worked for me for more than 15 years on a variety of projects, large and small. They are particularly adept at using applied knowledge and expertise to work with their network of professionals to deliver my goals. I have found them very easy to work with and happily recommend them to others”
- John Clark
- Managing Director, T Clark & Son Ltd
