Succession Planning & Inheritance Tax (IHT)

Our discreet and comprehensive succession planning encompasses:

• Wills and estate reviews: helping you plan or review a will so that your estate passes as you intend, making full use of the nil rate band, residence nil rate band and spouse exemption;
• Lifetime gifting strategies: optimising outright gifts, the seven-year rule and taper relief, and making full use of the annual, marriage and normal expenditure out of income exemptions;
• Business and agricultural succession: planning transfers of business and agricultural property under the reformed reliefs, including use of the 100% relief allowance now available and the reduced 50% relief above it, and the timing of lifetime transfers versus transfers on death;
• Trusts: advising on transferring assets into trust for asset protection and IHT mitigation, including entry, ten-yearly and exit charges, and the ongoing compliance a trust requires;
• Family Investment Companies (FICs): designing and implementing FICs as a flexible alternative or complement to trusts for passing wealth to the next generation while retaining control;
• Pensions and IHT: reviewing death benefit nominations and drawdown strategy ahead of unused pension funds coming within IHT from April 2027;
• Life assurance: arranging adequate cover, written in trust, so that any residual IHT liability does not fall on your family or force the sale of treasured assets;
• International estates: advising on the residence-based IHT rules that apply from April 2025, including exposure of worldwide assets for long-term UK residents and planning before or after a move. See our advice for new UK residents and internationally mobile individuals.

A Family Investment Company is a private company, typically holding investments or property, whose share structure is designed around the family’s succession objectives. Parents can retain control as directors and voting shareholders while gifting growth shares to children, so that future capital growth accrues outside their estates from day one. Gifts of shares are generally potentially exempt transfers, falling out of account after seven years, and-unlike most trusts-an FIC does not suffer IHT entry or ten-yearly charges. Profits are subject to corporation tax rather than the higher personal rates, which can make an FIC efficient for reinvested income, though profits extracted personally are taxed again in the shareholder’s hands.

FICs are powerful but not universal: they suit larger, longer-term family wealth where control matters, and they require careful design of share rights, articles and shareholder agreements. We advise on whether an FIC is right for you, and work alongside your solicitors on implementation.

Trusts remain one of the most effective structures for protecting family wealth-from divorce, creditors, or simply from wealth passing to beneficiaries before they are ready. Assets transferred into a discretionary trust leave your estate after seven years, while trustees retain discretion over who benefits and when. That protection comes at the cost of a distinct tax regime: transfers into most trusts above the available nil rate band attract an immediate 20% charge, with ten-yearly charges of up to 6% and exit charges thereafter-which is why the nil rate band, business and agricultural reliefs, and phased settlements all matter to the design.

Whether a trust, an FIC, or a combination of the two is the right vehicle depends on the size of the fund, the need for flexibility, and how the family weighs control against simplicity. We model the alternatives side by side so you can decide on the numbers.

As independent advisers with no family involvement or bias, we also help with family business succession. We can help you understand the issues affecting the family business-leadership succession, ownership transition, and fairness between children in and out of the business-and encourage constructive discussion within the family to find the most positive way forward.

Every estate planning engagement follows a clear, structured path:

1. Personal review session: a confidential meeting to review your assets and liabilities, forecast your likely outgoings, and discuss your planning goals and family circumstances;
2. Will review: checking that your will(s) give instructions in accordance with your plan;
3. IHT calculation: quantifying your potential inheritance tax exposure as things stand;
4. Written advice: tailored strategies to meet your planning goals and mitigate IHT;
5. Your decision: you choose which of the strategies we have discussed to take forward;
6. Implementation: much of which we handle in-house, with referrals to trusted specialists where further counsel is needed;
7. Dynamic review: strategies are normally implemented over time, not overnight. We check in regularly and adjust as your circumstances, your family and the tax rules evolve-an estate plan should be a living document, not a filed one.

Speak to us early. The most valuable planning opportunities-gifts that start the seven-year clock, restructuring before a sale, settling assets while reliefs are available-reward those who act soonest. Contact us for a confidential initial discussion.

Related advice: International Investors & Family Offices, International Businesses Expanding into the UK, and New UK Residents.