It was once said the only certainties in life are death and taxes.

Each are bad enough in their own right (although obviously one's worse than the other!) so how unfortunate that thanks to our taxation system the two can be combined! What follows is a brief overview of inheritance tax.

Why are more and more people being caught in the inheritance tax trap? Nowadays, many people own their own houses. Not only that, but the once modest value of their homes has increased disproportionately compared to the increase in the inheritance tax threshold each year.

Add to that insurance policy and pension payouts, share values, ISA's, investments, etc. and suddenly what most of us thought amounted to a modest estate on our death becomes a potential inheritance tax nightmare.

Update following the Chancellors pre-budget announcement on 9th October 2007

The Chancellor announced that the inheritance tax threshold for a married couple will be increased with immediate effect to £650,000. What seems apparent is that for married couples and civil partnership couples (i.e. same sex relationships having had a civil ceremony) with combined estates below this amount may not now need to undertake detailed inheritance tax planning mitigation measures. However, the implications of the Government announcement are by no means clear, and as usual what seems like good news at the moment for inheritance tax payers may well become clearer in the details released over the coming weeks and months.

What is clear is that inheritance tax planning for unmarried couples is of vital since the changes appear to disproportionably benefit married couples, and also for those whose assets are over the new £650,000 allowance. So, if you are unmarried it is more important than ever to make use of tax planning strategies.

For those who are married and opted for inheritance tax saving Wills (known as nil rate band discretionary trust Wills):

If the only reason you took these Wills was for inheritance tax saving, and that aside you would have been perfectly happy to leave all your assets to your surviving spouse anyway, then you might want to consider asking us to convert your Wills to simple Wills. There is certainly nothing wrong with your current Wills, but taking the complexity of the trust out of your Wills may be preferable.

Please contact us and we will be happy to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of retaining or changing your Wills.

Phone Number:

Landline: 01623 452395
Mobile: 07963 343014

E-Mail: enquiries@tansleywills.co.uk

Tansley Wills Limited is a member of the Institute of Professional Willwriters and complies with the Office of Fair Trading approved IPW Code of Practice.

Write to us at our practice address:

Tansley Wills
11 Dunsil Row
Mansfield Road
Clipstone Village
Nottinghamshire
NG21 9FG

Directors
Elaine Tansley
Paul Tansley

Tansley Wills Limited.
Registered office: 11 Dunsil Row, Mansfield Road, Clipstone Village, Nottinghamshire, NG21 9FG.
Registered in England and Wales. Registration Number 7346672.
© 2011. Tansley Wills Limited. All rights reserved.