Thinking about your financial legacy is not always easy. But with sound estate planning and inheritance tax advice, you can stay in control and save others a lot of worry.

When you get married, gain assets or start a family, you need to start thinking about estate planning – deciding who you want to leave your property, savings and possessions to – and how you can reduce the inheritance tax bill payable on your estate.

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If your estate is likely to be liable for inheritance tax, your Ermin Fosse financial advisers will help you assess your options. Whatever your financial circumstances, with effective estate and inheritance tax planning, we can help you balance your immediate financial needs with your wish to help others in the future.

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We can advise on a range of Estate Planning options

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Deed of Variation

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If you inherit funds that you do not need, one of the main impacts can be to increase your inheritance tax bill. With professional advice, you can avoid this issue by drawing up a formal deed of variation, which directs that the inheritance should pass to someone else or to a trust.

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A deed of variation is particularly valuable for successful people whose children are starting out on their own lives – arranging for unwanted inheritance to pass directly to the next generation could be an ideal way to fund the deposit on their first home.

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Trusts
 

By putting money in a trust, it no longer belongs to you, so it may not count towards your inheritance tax bill when you die. A trust is a legal arrangement where you give money to someone else to look after for the benefit of a third person.

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A trust can be used for a number of purposes – from providing an income for your children while you maintain control of the capital, to providing an income for your spouse after you die, preserving the capital for your children.

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Whole of Life

If it’s not appropriate for you to give money away to your children, to a trust or to charity, you may want to consider a Whole of Life policy. Provided the premiums are maintained, this policy will pay the sum assured straight to executors when you die, and will be free of inheritance tax.

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The money can then be used immediately to pay an inheritance tax bill, or it can increase the overall inheritance.

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Gifting/Philanthropy

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If your estate is likely to be liable for inheritance tax, one way of avoiding it is to give money away to charity, either directly or by setting up your own charitable foundation.

When you give large sums of money to other people, there is up to a seven-year waiting period before any reduction in inheritance tax is granted. When money is gifted to charity, this is not the case and bequests made in a will can still have the desired effect on your inheritance tax bill.

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