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Meet Ray Best
Estate Planning and Inheritance Tax Specialists for Advisers

"Helping advisers protect the wealth, legacies, and long-term interests their clients have worked a lifetime to build."

As an estate planning and inheritance tax specialist for accountants, my journey began by helping business owners simplify complexity and plan for long-term success. Today, I work with accountancy professionals advising high-net-worth individuals, property investors, and business owners on how to preserve wealth, minimise inheritance tax, and structure multi-generational legacies.

Over the years, I've worked alongside professionals across multiple sectors, authored features for Tax Adviser magazine, and co-authored Inheritance Tax Simplified, a practical guide to navigating the legal and financial complexities of estate planning. These experiences are shaped by the belief that accountants play a pivotal role in their clients' financial future, but they often lack direct access to the technical estate planning tools required to protect that future fully.

My career began by helping business owners simplify complexity and plan for long-term success. Today, I work with financial advisers and accountants who support high-net-worth individuals, property investors, and business owners, helping them protect wealth, reduce inheritance tax exposure, and put the right estate planning structures in place for future generations.

Over the years, I have worked alongside professionals across multiple sectors and contributed to leading industry discussions on estate planning, inheritance tax, and wealth preservation. I have written for Tax Adviser magazine, co-authored Inheritance Tax Simplified, and authored Pensions Betrayed, a book that explores the legal, financial, and human issues that shape modern estate and inheritance tax planning.

These experiences have reinforced a belief that remains central to my work: financial advisers and accountants play a vital role in shaping their clients' financial future, but they do not always have access to the specialist technical support needed for complex wills, trusts, succession planning, and inheritance tax strategy. I founded Wills, Tax & Trusts Ltd. to provide that support, helping advisers deliver better outcomes for clients with significant wealth, business interests, and long-term legacy concerns.

Whether you advise business owners, property investors, or private clients with estates of £2.5 million and above, I provide specialist insight and planning support designed to help your firm strengthen client relationships, build trust, and deliver lasting value.

For me, estate planning is not simply a service. It is a responsibility. Too often, family wealth is lost within a generation or two, not because of reckless decisions, but because of inadequate planning, poor communication, and avoidable tax exposure. I aim to help change that through clear, thoughtful, and well-structured planning.

Every client plan is bespoke. I take the time to understand not only the financial position, but also the family dynamics, business structures, and personal values that shape each legacy. The goal is to help ensure that the wealth your clients have built over a lifetime is protected carefully, legally, and in a way that can endure for generations.

Managing Director of Wills, Tax & Trusts Ltd - Ray Best

To support accountants like you with the legal, strategic, and tax-focused structures that high-net-worth clients require, I founded Wills, Tax & Trusts Ltd. Whether you're advising business owners, property investors, or private clients with £2.5M+ estates, I provide the insight and planning that helps your firm strengthen trust, deepen relationships, and deliver long-term impact.

Estate planning isn't just a service; it's a responsibility. Approximately 80% of inherited wealth disappears within two generations, an unfortunate reality. Often, the loss isn't due to frivolous spending but a lack of structured planning, poor communication, or avoidable tax exposure.

My mission is to change that.

Every client plan I build is bespoke. I take time to understand not just the figures, but also the family dynamics, the business structure, and the values that define each legacy. Together, we can ensure that the wealth your clients have built over a lifetime is protected intelligently, legally, and in a way that endures for generations.