Make sure your loved ones don’t lose out
Use prudent planning to ensure your estate legally avoids paying inheritance tax
Don’t leave your family with less
If you don’t plan ahead, your loved ones may encounter these problems:
Your estate pays inheritance tax when it didn't need to
Your Will didn’t use all the available tax reliefs
Your children pay more tax when they die
Unmarried couples pay inheritance tax twice
A property is sold to pay inheritance tax
Maximise your legacy with inheritance tax planning
- Make the most of all legal tax allowances
- Use Trusts for rental properties.
- Get Wills that make the most of exemptions.
For more information, download free factsheets on Inheritance Tax, Lasting Power of Attorney, Trusts, Wills and other aspects of estate planning.
The easy way to minimise inheritance tax in Bristol
It starts with a no-obligation conversation about your assets and objectives
free appointment
In the first meeting, we’ll talk about your assets and estate-planning objectives.
quick and easy
The first meeting takes about an hour and a half. Time well spent to identify tax savings.
no hidden costs
After the meeting we’ll advise on the cost of any planning before you commit to anything.
Three steps to prudent inheritance tax planning
1
BOOK AN APPOINTMENT
Pick a time and date to suit your diary.
2
DISCUSS YOUR ASSETS
Tell me about your circumstances and objectives.
3
SIGN YOUR DOCUMENTS
The planning begins to work once documents are signed.
Let me simplify inheritance tax for you
Do you find inheritance tax confusing?
You’re not alone! The truth is that it is complex because there are so many different aspects to it.
I can help by talking to you about your assets and letting you know whether or not your is estate is likely to pay inheritance tax.
If so, I’ll suggest solutions, from Wills to trusts for rental properties. For high-value estates, I’ll introduce you to a trusted partner for bespoke tax planning.
As a qualified member of the Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW), I receive regular training to give you up-do-date advice.
Graham Southorn, MIPW
Bristol Wills & Estate Planning is proud to be a member of:
Google reviews from people we’ve helped
Great service and everything was made very quick and easy.
Sarah
Excellent service and an efficient and easy process.
Tom
Graham made the whole process simple and straightforward while being ultra helpful and informative.
Steve
Prudent estate planning is about more than inheritance tax
Lasting Power of Attorney
Help your loved ones to take care of you.
Asset Protection Trusts
Protect your biggest asset for your loved ones.
Wills
Help your family by making your wishes clear.
How to avoid paying too much inheritance tax
Inheritance tax is often avoidable, provided you plan far enough ahead.
The alternative is that your estate pays 40% tax!
The starting point is understanding how much you can pass on tax-free. Currently, this is fixed at £325,000 and is known as the nil rate band.
However, there are additional allowances and exemptions to. There’s an extra nil rate band, worth £175,000, if you pass your property to descendants.
And if you’re married or in a civil partnership, anything passing to your spouse is exempt.
This is where it gets a little more complicated, because the surviving spouse can utilise their late partner’s “unused” nil rate band. (Unused means that it wasn’t used up by gifts before their death.)
The amount that exceeds your combined nil rate bands is taxed at 40%.
But there’s plenty you can do during your lifetime to get your estate under this value. For starters, you can give away a certain amount every year.
The Gov.uk website explains this and other exemptions, including gifts out of your regular income and gifts for special occasions like birthdays and weddings.
Plus, you may have heard of the 7-year rule. Assets you give away don’t count if you made the gift more than 7 years ago.
Conversely, if you do give some away in the 7 years before your death, some, or all, will still be counted as part of your estate.
You don’t necessarily have to give away assets to a person. There are inheritance tax-friendly investments, and you can get advice on these from a financial adviser (I know a good one).
And if you own a rental property, you can put it in trust whilst still retaining control. Again it takes 7 years for the value to fall outside of your estate.
You may have heard of the rich and famous using trusts, like the Duke of Westminster, whose family paid no inheritance tax on an estate worth £9 billion.
You can do the same. The planning is perfectly legal and is used by many ordinary families as well as the rich and famous.
Finally, when you die, your Will should make the most of any inheritance tax exemptions that could apply. For example:
- The exemption for spouses.
- Gifts to charities and certain other organisations that are exempt.
- Trusts for shares in a business to ensure your spouse’s allowance isn’t used up.
I can help you navigate what can be a minefield. But don’t leave it too late – remember the 7-year rule!
Don’t leave it too late!