Getting the full benefit
A gift with reservation is a gift that is not fully given away. Where gifts with reservation were made on or after 18 March 1986, you can include the assets as part of your estate, but there is no seven-year limit as there is for outright gifts. A gift may begin as a gift with reservation, but some time later the reservation may cease. Read the rest of this entry »

Passing on parts of your estate

There are some important exemptions that allow you to legally pass your estate on to others, both before and after your death, without it being subject to Inheritance Tax. Read the rest of this entry »

Sharing out your estate

Planning your finances in advance should help you ensure that when you die, everything you own goes where you want it to. Making a Will is the first step in ensuring that your estate is shared out exactly as you want it to be. Read the rest of this entry »

How much Inheritance Tax could you potentially have to pay?

To estimate how much Inheritance Tax you may have to pay, add up the value of all your wealth, subtract your liabilities and the £325,000 nil rate band allowance, and then multiply the remainder by 40%. Read the rest of this entry »

Arriving at the amount of Inheritance Tax payable

To arrive at the amount of Inheritance Tax potentially payable when valuing your estate, you need to include assets (property, possessions, investments and money) you own and certain assets you have given away during the last seven years. The valuation must accurately reflect what those assets would reasonably receive in the current open market. Read the rest of this entry »

The later you leave it, the more limited your options will be
Successful planning is dependent on getting the foundations right, and it is most effective when it is conducted early. The later you leave it, the more limited your options will be. Current rules mean that the survivor of a marriage or registered civil partnership can benefit from up to double the Inheritance Tax threshold – 650,000 in the current tax year, in addition to the entitlement to the full spouse relief. Read the rest of this entry »

Is it time to evaluate your estate?
We can help you evaluate the size of your estate—which could include assets such as property, pensions, shares and personal property—and identify the opportunities that will help you avoid or reduce the amount of Inheritance Tax your family will have to pay on your estate and enable you to preserve wealth for your dependants if the worst comes to the worst. Read the rest of this entry »

Perhaps not quite the ‘voluntary’ tax it was once considered

Effective estate planning is about getting the right balance between maintaining access to your money when you need it and saving tax. This is because, in general, the more tax-efficient a solution is, the less access you have to your assets. Safeguarding your own financial future is very important and giving too much away could put this at risk. Read the rest of this entry »

Making sufficient financial preparations for the future

Retirement savings have plummeted among those aged 55-64 over the past year as the cost of living continues to rise, according to Aviva’s latest Real Retirement Report. Read the rest of this entry »

Making sufficient financial preparations for the future

Retirement savings have plummeted among those aged 55-64 over the past year as the cost of living continues to rise, according to Aviva’s latest Real Retirement Report. Read the rest of this entry »