Inheritance tax advisers for families: planning that protects your wealth

An inheritance tax adviser works out what your estate would pay today, then designs a plan to reduce that bill and keep your family in control. That usually means a mix of gifts, trusts, reliefs, pension and will planning, plus the paperwork to make each step count. At ASWATAX you deal directly with a Chartered Tax Adviser, who also works with your solicitor and accountant so nothing is missed.

Look for a qualified tax specialist, such as a Chartered Tax Adviser, who will talk to you directly rather than pass you between departments. Ask how they are qualified, whether they explain the downsides of each option, and whether they will coordinate with your solicitor. A good adviser will say when a plan is not worth doing. Our free first call is a low-pressure way to judge fit.

Families usually use discretionary trusts, which let trustees decide who benefits, and bare trusts, where a child is entitled outright. A discretionary trust can receive gifts up to your available nil-rate band without an immediate charge, but then carries ten-yearly and exit charges. No trust removes tax by magic. Whether one suits you depends on the assets, the beneficiaries and how long you can wait.

No. A gift into a trust leaves your estate only if you give up all benefit, and it may be a chargeable transfer on the way in. Discretionary trusts then face a ten-yearly charge of up to 6% and exit charges of up to 6%. They are most effective for growing assets, for limited amounts, and for control rather than for wiping out tax. We model the trade-offs first.

Inheritance tax is charged at 40% on the part of your estate above your available thresholds. Each person has a nil-rate band of £325,000, and up to £175,000 more when a home passes to children or grandchildren. Unused allowances pass to a surviving spouse. Our inheritance tax calculator gives a quick estimate, and a call turns that into a plan.

As early as you sensibly can. Gifts only fall outside your estate after seven years, trusts take time to set up properly, and some reliefs need ownership for set periods. Starting in your fifties or sixties gives the most options, but late planning still helps, for example by using exemptions, tidying wills and checking pensions before the April 2027 change.

If you give assets to another individual and live seven years, the gift is normally outside your estate for inheritance tax. If you die within seven years and your gifts exceed the nil-rate band, tax may be due, reduced by taper relief for gifts made three to seven years before death. Gifts made in those seven years use up the nil-rate band before the rest of the estate.

Gifts to a spouse or civil partner, and to charities, are generally exempt, although a cap applies if you are a long-term UK resident and your spouse is not. You can also give £3,000 each tax year, small gifts of up to £250 per person, wedding gifts of up to £5,000 to a child, and regular gifts from surplus income without limit. These exemptions work immediately, with no seven-year wait.

Regular gifts from your income, not capital, are exempt from inheritance tax when they leave you enough to maintain your usual standard of living. There is no cash limit, which makes it powerful for people with healthy income. The key is evidence: keep records showing the pattern of gifts and your income and spending, because your executors will need to prove it.

From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and pension death benefits will count as part of your estate for inheritance tax. Death-in-service benefits and dependants' scheme pensions are excluded, and the spouse and charity exemptions stay. This changes the usual advice on which assets to spend first, so existing plans deserve a fresh look.

You can, but if you keep living there without paying a full market rent, it is a gift with reservation of benefit and stays in your estate. Gifting a home to children can also trigger capital gains tax and lose the residence nil-rate band. There are better routes for many families, and the right one depends on who needs the home and when.

Qualifying business and agricultural property gets 100% relief on the first £2.5m of value per person from 6 April 2026, then 50% above that. The allowance can transfer between spouses. Investment and property-letting companies generally do not qualify. We check whether your shares do and how to protect the relief in your will.

Since 6 April 2025, inheritance tax follows residence rather than domicile. If you have been UK resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years, you are a long-term UK resident and worldwide assets are in scope, with a tail after you leave. Someone planning a move abroad needs advice before leaving, not after.

The common ones are gifting assets but still using them, putting assets in trust without thinking about capital gains tax, forgetting that wills and pension nominations need updating, and relying on a plan that no longer matches the law. Another is leaving it too late. Most of these are cheap to fix if they are spotted in time.

A whole-of-life policy written in trust can pay the tax when it falls due, so your family does not have to sell assets to find cash. It does not reduce the tax, and premiums count as gifts that need to qualify for an exemption. We look at whether the cost justifies the certainty, usually alongside other planning.

The calculator shows roughly where you stand and is a useful first step. Planning is different: it needs your wills, trust law, capital gains tax, pensions and valuations to fit together. Many people use the calculator, then book a call to test their ideas against the rules before committing to anything irreversible.