Inheritance Tax

Inheritance Tax planning for UK families and business owners.

Lifetime gifting, trusts, Business Relief, and proper use of the nil-rate bands. Plus IHT400 preparation and estate administration when the time comes. Practical advice that fits your wider financial picture.

What's covered

What we handle on the IHT side.

IHT is one of the few taxes where decisions made decades in advance still matter. We work on both ends: planning during life, and administering the estate at death.

Lifetime Gifting

Annual exemptions, normal expenditure out of income, Potentially Exempt Transfers, and Chargeable Lifetime Transfers. Structured gifting plans that use the seven-year rule properly.

Trusts and Family Structures

Discretionary, bare, and interest in possession trusts. When they help, when they don't, and the ten-year charges and exit charges to plan around if they're used.

Business Relief

Eligibility review for trading company shares, partnership interests, and qualifying business assets. With the new £1m cap from April 2026 modelled into the plan.

Nil-Rate Band Planning

Use of the £325,000 nil-rate band, the £175,000 residence nil-rate band, and transferable allowances between spouses. Plus tapering for estates over £2 million.

IHT400 Preparation

Full estate valuation, IHT400 and supporting schedules, reliefs and exemptions claimed, and HMRC clearance secured before final distribution.

Estate Coordination

Working with your solicitor, financial advisor, and family on the wider plan. Wills, life insurance written in trust, and ongoing reviews as circumstances change.

Who IHT advice typically helps.

The threshold sounds high until you include the family home and any pension or investments. These are the three situations where planning usually saves the most.

Homeowners with Estates Over £500k

Families whose main asset is the family home, often pushed over the nil-rate band by London or Home Counties property values.

Business Owners and Directors

Owners of trading companies, partnerships, or farming businesses where Business Relief or Agricultural Relief is central to the plan.

Larger Estates and Families

Estates over £2 million where the residence nil-rate band starts to taper, or families wanting to involve children and grandchildren in the plan.

How we approach your IHT planning.

01 — Map

Inventory the estate

Assets, liabilities, prior gifts, existing trusts, and life policies. The baseline IHT exposure has to be clear before we plan anything.

02 — Model

Show the options

Gifting, trusts, Business Relief, charitable giving, and life cover modelled side by side with their costs and trade-offs.

03 — Implement

Put the plan in place

Documents drafted, gifts recorded, trusts established, and roles for executors and trustees clearly assigned.

04 — Review

Keep it current

Annual review meetings to track gifts, reflect rule changes, and update for births, marriages, sales, or moves.

Frequently asked questions about UK Inheritance Tax

What is the current Inheritance Tax threshold?

The nil-rate band is £325,000 per person. There’s also a residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000 when a main home is left to direct descendants, taking a single person up to £500,000 in many cases. Married couples and civil partners can combine allowances, so a couple can pass on up to £1 million tax-free where the residence nil-rate band applies in full.

What is the seven-year rule on gifts?

Gifts to individuals are treated as Potentially Exempt Transfers (PETs). If you survive seven years from the date of the gift, the value falls outside your estate for IHT. Gifts made within seven years of death are added back to the estate, with taper relief reducing the tax due on gifts made between three and seven years before death.

How does Business Relief work?

Business Relief (formerly Business Property Relief) can reduce the IHT charge on qualifying business assets by 50% or 100%, depending on what’s held. Trading company shares, partnership interests, and certain business assets can qualify. From April 2026, the 100% rate is being capped at £1 million of combined Business Relief and Agricultural Relief, with assets above that getting 50% relief.

Do I need to use a trust?

Not always. Trusts are useful for keeping control over how and when assets pass to beneficiaries, protecting assets for minors or vulnerable family members, and structuring gifts to use exemptions. They come with their own tax regime and reporting obligations, so they’re worth setting up only when there’s a clear reason.

Can you help with probate and the IHT400?

Yes. We prepare the IHT400 and supporting schedules, value the estate, apply available reliefs and exemptions, and liaise with HMRC on any clearance queries. We work alongside the solicitor handling the legal grant where one is involved, or on a standalone basis for non-contentious estates.

Worried about IHT on your estate?

Book a free 30-minute call. We’ll look at the numbers and tell you whether planning is worth doing now.