Inheritance Tax Advice
For most people, Inheritance Tax is an issue which only arises when a loved one dies (one exception to this being certain lifetime gifts into trusts). Recently published figured revealed that, where it is payable, the average Inheritance tax bill in Guildford is £231,000.00. This shows that it is vital to get good Inheritance Tax advice.
Inheritance tax is an area that is currently under a lot of scrutiny by the Office for Tax Simplification (which probably won’t do what it says on the tin) so watch this space…as they say!
rhw are experienced in providing Inheritance Tax Advice and planning.
- Maximising use of available reliefs and exemptions including business property relief and other lesser known reliefs – We recently saved one family £350,000.00 in tax by utilising one such relief
- Advising on lifetime gifts (including gifts into trust)
- Ensuring that your Will is as tax efficient as possible
- Maintaining the tax benefits of existing trust arrangements
As it stands at the current time:
Other than gifts to a spouse, or charity (and also in some instances gifts to political parties – although surprisingly these are not very common!) which are exempt from tax, whatever the value, a certain amount of your Estate can be passed on inheritance tax-free; this tax-free allowance is called the ‘nil-rate band’.
The current inheritance tax (IHT) threshold is £325,000 per person. It doubles to £650,000 for a married/civil partnership couple – as long as the first person to die leaves their entire estate to their partner.
An additional allowance can also be claimed if you to pass on your house (or its value) to your descendants. This includes children, adopted or foster children, stepchildren and grandchildren. Any unused part of this allowance can be transferred for use by your spouse/civil partner on their death but be warned, for higher value estates this allowance can be lost. We can advise on the best way to structure your Wills and planning to try to capture as much of this allowance as possible.
During your lifetime you can give away a certain amount of your money, tax-free and without it counting towards your estate. We can advise on the best way to structure such gifts
Tax planning can also be carried out after a death by way of a deed of variation (within two years of death).
You can also learn about Trusts and Lifetime Settlements.
Please Note. Obviously the situation with regard to Inheritance Tax can and will change according to the policies of the Government in power at any one time, so we always advise you take advice directly from one of our Private Client Team as individual circumstances vary enormously.
You can also check the Government Website directly: www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax/overview
To gain the most out of tax planning it is prudent to seek advice as soon as possible from rhw, so contact us to discuss your requirements.
Call rhw, inheritance tax lawyers in Guildford, on or email wills@rhw.co.uk
