Succession and estate planning

If you want to pass on your assets seamlessly and in a tax-efficient way, it’s never too early to start planning. We’ll help you do that

By thinking about succession planning early, you can minimise your tax liabilities and gain peace of mind for you and your family.

This applies at all stages of life – especially now that inheritance tax (IHT) rules are changing.

Focusing on your own situation

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for passing on your assets to your family. So, when helping you plan for the future and make the most of your tax allowances, we’ll talk to you about:

• What you own – from your home to your savings, pensions, investments, or business interests (such as a company or farm)
• What you want to do with those assets
• Your potential IHT liabilities
• Your options for succession planning and mitigating tax (including capital gains tax) through Wills, trusts, charities, lifetime gifts, and the use of exemptions

At each step of the way, we’ll keep things clear, tailored, and best suited to your family and financial circumstances.

Avoiding unexpected tax complications

We’ll also steer you away from the pitfalls that often trigger unexpected tax liabilities for families.

Gifting, for example, can be effective for passing on assets and reducing inheritance tax liabilities. However, families often find out too late that they’ve not kept the right records or have run into complications around Pre-Owned Assets legislation or ‘reserving benefits’ from gifts. We’ll tell you how to manage this.

Other common pitfalls or oversights can include:

• Leaving part of your estate to your grandchildren in a way that jeopardises your ‘residence nil-rate’ band.
• Unintentionally ending financial support for a dependant after death.
• Letting a focus on inheritance tax lead to sub-optimal outcomes for yourself, a business, or loved ones.

All these pitfalls, and more, are avoidable with good advice in advance, and you can look to us for that. We can also introduce you to accountants and financial advisers to help you manage your tax and financial planning, or we can work alongside your financial and tax advisers.

With you on your journey through life

'With you on your journey through life' is our series of videos featuring our dedicated team showcasing how we can support you and your family through every milestone in life.