Inheritance Tax Planning
Most people want to leave their worldly possessions to their loved ones when they die rather than to the taxman. Even if you have never thought of yourself as rich, it will be no surprise if your total estate is eligible for Inheritance Tax.At present, it is levied on every pound you leave over £325,000 or £650,000 for a married couple or civil partners utilising the transferable nil rate band. That might sound like a lot of money, but once you have added together the value of your house, your car, any investments you may have, savings, furniture, personal effects and the proceeds of your life insurance, you might find yourself well past that threshold. Inheritance Tax is levied at a flat rate of 40% for everyone.
Whilst tax rules can and will change over the years, you are able to control matters to a certain degree by some careful timely planning.
As part of your Inheritance Tax Planning it is possible to avoid Inheritance Tax or at the very least reduce the amount that your beneficiaries will have to pay on your death.
Having made sure that you have a valid Will in place, then it is time to consider what steps may be needed to ensure that as much of your money as possible goes to those people you want to benefit.
There are several different ways that ones Inheritance Tax liability can be controlled without you having to give away large sums of money away now.
Why might I need Advice on Inheritance Tax Planning?
You might consider taking advice on Inheritance Tax Planning to:
• Keep your assets within your family.
• Protect your Nil Rate Band if you were to die and your partner re-marry.
• Protect assets passed to children / grandchildren from the risk of them becoming
bankrupt or divorced.
• Protect your assets from the need to fund long term care in later life.
• Reduce Inheritance Tax.
• Avoid Inheritance tax.
All of the above can be achieved through good Inheritance Tax Planning advice & effective financial planning both of which Focus are able to offer. We can help you plan the right strategy, which will be individually tailored to your own unique set of circumstances. We will discuss your assets, income needs and outgoings, future capital requirements, and who you want to benefit and when. It is a complicated process and only when we have completed an in depth analysis of your situation will we come up with an appropriate strategy for you.