Inheritance Tax

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A variety of wealth management strategies can be utilised to reduce your family’s inheritance tax liability.

What is inheritance tax?

Inheritance tax is tax paid to HMRC on the value of the estate of a deceased person, as per the deceased’s will or common law. Spouses and civil partners do not pay inheritance tax when receiving an inheritance from their husband/wife/partner, and you may not have to pay anything if you inherit within the “nil-rate band”.

Inheritance tax rate

The nil-rate band for inheritance tax – i.e., the amount of money you can inherit before having to pay any inheritance tax – is currently set at £325,000*, all inherited monies above this figure will be charged 40% tax.

However, this nil-rate band can be topped up by £175,000* to £500,000* if the deceased leaves their main residence to their children and/or grandchildren, officially known as the “main residence allowance”. If the estate is worth more than a total of £2 million, other rules apply.

Reducing your inheritance tax through donations

Charitable donating is one strategy for reducing the inheritance tax bill your family will need to pay from your estate. By leaving a donation to charity in your will, you can reduce your tax bill in one of two ways:

  1. Charitable donations are deducted from the estate’s net value, meaning the amount subject to inheritance tax is reduced by the amount donated.
  2. If the charitable donation equals or exceeds 10% of the estate’s value, a lower inheritance tax rate will be applied on the amount above the nil-rate band.

Current laws encourage at least 10% of the estate’s value is donated to charity in return for partial tax relief. The amount owed to HMRC will be reduced by 10%, i.e., from an inheritance tax rate of 40% to 36%.

Other ways to reduce inheritance tax

There are other wealth planning strategies to reduce the inheritance tax your family will owe, such as making the most of gift allowances, investments, insurance and more.

*Tax year 2026/2027

 
 

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INHERITANCE TAX PLANNING IS NOT REGULATED BY THE FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY.

 

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Andrea - mid 50s

business owner

I came to see Josh not only helping me plan for my retirement but also in helping me look after a Trust fund for my Nieces. Josh is always quick to respond to queries and deals with all requests in a timely and efficient manner. I feel very comfortable in the fact that if I ask for something to be done or need some advice he ALWAYS delivers.
I have not always had this service from other financial advisors. I would happily recommend Josh to anyone needing financial support.

 

Trevor

Power of Attorney

Following our mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis and admission into a residential care home, my sister and I were looking for financial advice on the options available to fund her care. Our main concern before speaking with Josh was finding an adviser who would provide us with sound financial advice.
Josh provided us with various funding options relating to our mother's residential care provision. These options gave my sister and I the information we needed to determine the best way forward in respect of funding our mother's care needs. Josh provided clear, concise, and timely financial advice, and responses to all our questions were swift, friendly, and easy to understand. He also went out of his way to secure an immediate needs care annuity within the timescales required to meet my mother's urgent funding needs.
My sister and I received excellent support from Warwick Road Financial Services and believe that, without Josh's assistance, we would have struggled to achieve a successful outcome.
My sister and I have a cautious approach when it comes to making major financial decisions. We believe the approach used, and the advice offered by Warwick Road Financial Services, would be of benefit to people who, like us, have a cautious approach when it comes to financial matters.

Darren

IT professional – requiring and receiving ongoing Pre-retirement advice

I approached Jethro several years ago because my wife and I really hadn’t paid any attention to our pension planning. Jethro helped us by identifying various plans from previous employers, and a personal plan that I’d left to stagnate from my contracting days.
The result was that Jethro managed to consolidate all these into single managed portfolios for each of us. One thing we really liked was his clear explanation, regular communication, and friendly but professional approach. He explained things to us in language we could both understand. We found the experience very easy to navigate thanks to Jethro’s detailed and clear explanation and guidance.
We would recommend Jethro to people who need a full-service pension professional to guide them clearly and safely through their options and manage the entire process for them.

Miss Parker

I instructed Claire Adams from Warwick Road Financial services to assist me with consolidating my various pensions into one with Quilter.
Claire took care of everything on my behalf and kept me updated at all times.  Clare was extremely professional, efficient and explained everything in great detail. 
As I was so impressed I also took out life cover, which again Claire found the best deal and it was set up almost instantly.
I would highly recommend Claire to future clients, friends and family as I know they will receive a first-class Service.

Steve

58, Director

We originally approached Lawrence because we were looking for help with our insurance/mortgage and general finances, whilst in our early 20’s.
Before we had met you, we were concerned about obtaining financial advice from somebody who we didn’t know or wasn’t recommended, due to a family members previous bad experience.
Lawrence helped us by putting us at ease, explaining everything in layman’s terms, so that we understood the advice and were always given opportunities to wait, delay or decline any plans that were offered.
As a result, almost 30 years later we still see Lawrence at least once per year to discuss our current situation and our plans. We are in an excellent position financially regarding our mortgage, savings and pensions, largely thanks to Lawrence.
One thing I really like is the trustworthy and friendly attitude he has always shown towards us.
I found the experience very comforting, knowing that our finances were being taken care of by a professional and that our long-term plans were reachable.
The sort of person that would benefit most from using them would be a young couple, starting out in their careers, as we were when we first met Lawrence.

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