Trusts & Tax
Anne Robinson provides a lesson in estate planning
The news that Anne Robinson has given away her £50 million fortune to avoid paying inheritance tax has recently caused a splash around the media. But can gifting your fortune really keep the taxman away? And what does the story tell us about the importance of estate planning? Inheritance....
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Could the end of Inheritance Tax be imminent?
Inheritance Tax (IHT) is a tax levied on the estates of people who have died, normally at a rate of 40%. Whilst just one in 20 estates are subject to IHT, this number actually used to be far lower. The threshold for the tax has been frozen at £325,000 since the 2009/10 financial year; in the subse....
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Business owners: don’t forget about succession planning
According to a study conducted last year by the Institute for Corporate Productivity, 44.4% of businesses had no formal approach to succession planning, while 10% performed no succession planning whatsoever. Even the largest companies struggle; research suggests that two thirds (68%) of all FTSE 10....
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What is Inheritance Tax and how can it be reduced?
Inheritance Tax (IHT) is a tax levied on the value of a deceased person’s estate. Any part of an estate that exceeds the £325,000 tax threshold (or Nil-Rate Band – NRB) is liable to IHT at 40%. Only a small percentage (4% to 5% of estates) are large enough to incur IHT, but as specialist pr....
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Inheritance Tax – complex, old-fashioned and unfit for purpose?
In autumn 2018, the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) published a report following a request from then Chancellor Philip Hammond for a comprehensive review of the IHT system. One of two reports, the first dealt with the administrative side of IHT, while their second report, presented to Parliament....
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Simplifying IHT – mission impossible?
Some 18 months ago the Chancellor as was, Philip Hammond, asked the Office of Tax Simplification to review the Inheritance Tax regime and suggest ways to simplify it. Earlier hopes that he’d completely abolish the unpopular levy on inherited wealth soon faded. It was too much to expect that a tax....
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How trusts provide a straightforward way for families to protect and pass on their wealth
For many, the word ‘trust’ can have a slightly Dickensian ring to it; people often assume that a trust is rather old-fashioned, difficult to set up and complex to run. In addition, there is a common misconception that they are established purely for tax purposes and don’t have any other role ....
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How to protect vulnerable and disabled beneficiaries
Thinking about how you would like your estate to be distributed on your death and how best to provide for your loved ones can sometimes be hard. This can be especially true if you have disabled or vulnerable family members you wish to protect. For instance, you may want to provide for a family me....
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Ashes to ashes… and where you can scatter them
While many of us grew up thinking of burial as the way in which we say farewell to the deceased, statistics from the Cremation Society of Great Britain show that around 75 per cent of people are now choosing cremation rather than burial. Deciding what to do with the ashes In the 1970s, onl....
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The Skripal case – unravelling the unusual and challenging mental capacity issues
Over recent weeks, the twists and turns in this high-profile case have made daily media headlines. The events that unfolded on a bench in a park in Salisbury rapidly became first a national and then an international political issue, as Colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were hospitalise....
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Six lesser-known ways to reduce Inheritance Tax you may not have considered, but really should
Inheritance Tax (IHT) is one of the most controversial taxes in the UK, so it’s little wonder that families are looking for ways to reduce the likely bill. So, if you’ve used up your annual exemptions, made gifts to individuals, given money to the bride or groom, plan to outlive your lifetime....
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Declarations of Trust: What are they and when should you be making them
Declarations of Trust are legally binding documents that are used to set out the interests of parties where property is owned by more than one person. A Declaration of Trust can for example be entered into by couples purchasing their first home, when a partner moves into an existing home, or when pr....
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Inheritance Tax – how will it affect my family?
Put simply, Inheritance Tax (IHT) is a tax on money, property, savings, investments and possessions you leave behind when you die. The continued rise in house prices has meant that the number of families paying IHT has grown, with many facing a mounting IHT liability simply because they own a fam....
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