Gifts, trusts and what happens after — as one picture.
Most families have had advice on pieces of this: a will here, a gift there, a trust set up years ago. Rarely has anyone looked at all of it together, which is where the gaps usually are.
The pieces exist. Nobody has put them on one page.
Inheritance tax planning fails far more often through fragmentation than through bad advice. A gift made without a record, a trust nobody has reported, a will that no longer matches what is owned.
Is a company part of the picture?
Where shares in a family company are involved, succession and the corporate structure need deciding together.
Five things that have to be looked at together
The outline below is the general shape of the work. Rates, allowances, reliefs and thresholds change with each Finance Act and are confirmed against your own circumstances rather than assumed here.
Property, investments, pensions, business interests and anything held abroad. Ownership matters as much as value, and joint ownership is frequently misremembered.
When a gift was made, and how long the giver survives it, affects how it is treated. Records made at the time are worth a great deal later.
Trusts carry registration, reporting and periodic charges of their own. Existing trusts often need bringing up to date before anything new is considered.
Certain business and agricultural assets can attract relief, subject to conditions that have to be met over time rather than only at the end.
An estate can be valuable and still leave the family unable to settle a bill without selling something they intended to keep.
Establish the position, then keep it current
What is owned, by whom, and what the position would be if nothing changed.
Talk to us → 02 · GiftsLifetime givingStructuring gifts deliberately, and keeping a record that will still make sense years later.
Talk to us → 03 · TrustsTrust tax & reportingRegistration, annual reporting and periodic charges for new and existing trusts.
Talk to us → 04 · ReliefsBusiness & agricultural assetsWhether the conditions for relief are met now, and what would put them at risk.
Talk to us → 05 · Cross-borderAssets or family abroadWhere more than one country has an interest in the same estate.
See how it works → 06 · EstatesEstate administrationReporting and tax work after a death, alongside the family’s solicitor.
Talk to us →The ones families ask first
If I give something away, is it out of my estate immediately?
Usually not immediately. How a lifetime gift is treated depends on the type of gift and on how long the giver survives it, and gifts where the giver keeps some benefit are treated differently again. This is why the date and the terms of a gift matter so much.
Is a trust still worth considering?
Sometimes, for control and succession reasons as much as tax ones. Trusts carry their own charges and ongoing reporting, so they are worth setting up when there is a clear purpose and worth avoiding when there is not.
We set up a trust years ago and have not done anything with it.
Worth reviewing sooner rather than later. Trusts have registration and reporting obligations that continue whether or not anyone is administering them actively, and bringing one up to date is easier than dealing with several years at once.
Do you write the will?
No. Will drafting is legal work and sits with a solicitor. We advise on the tax position, prepare the reporting, and work alongside your solicitor so the will and the tax planning say the same thing.
When is the right time to start?
Earlier than most people do. Nearly every option in this area works better with time, and several of them depend on it directly.
You will know the number before we start
Engagements start at £450, priced by the engagement and fixed before we begin. All figures exclude VAT.
How our pricing works →Start with what is actually owned.
A short set of questions about the family, the assets and anything already in place. We come back with a scope and a fixed price. If we are not the right firm for you, we will say so rather than quote for it.
Start scoping →