FAQs

You remain your client's lead adviser at all times. We act as your specialist back office — on a white-label or co-branded basis — providing the analysis, documentation and implementation under your instruction. Every engagement operates within an agreed scope and full professional indemnity cover, so you retain the relationship while we provide the technical depth behind it.

To build an accurate picture, we typically ask for a family tree; the current status of any wills; an asset and valuation schedule (including business and property interests); ownership structures; pension and life cover details; a gifting history going back at least seven years; domicile and residence information; and the client's objectives. The more complete the picture, the more precise and valuable our recommendations.

We work systematically through the available allowances and reliefs: the Nil-Rate Band, the Residence Nil-Rate Band, spouse, civil partner and charitable exemptions, and — where relevant — Business Property Relief (BPR) and Agricultural Property Relief (APR). The right combination depends entirely on the client's circumstances and objectives.

Most lifetime gifts are Potentially Exempt Transfers (PETs). If the person making the gift survives seven years, the gift normally falls outside the estate for IHT. Where death occurs between three and seven years after a gift, taper relief may reduce the tax payable on that gift—though, importantly, it reduces the tax, not the Nil-Rate Band itself, which is a common point of misunderstanding.

Life cover is most valuable where an estate is illiquid or where reliefs are uncertain. A whole-of-life policy written in trust can fund an inheritance tax liability without increasing the taxable estate — giving the family accessible cash to settle the bill without forcing the sale of property or business assets.

We assess whether the business is genuinely trading rather than primarily an investment vehicle, reviewing surplus cash, group structure and share rights. Where the qualifying position is at risk, we can advise on restructuring to support trading status — always grounded in the business's commercial reality.

It can. Significant surplus cash that isn't required for the trade may jeopardise relief. We help evidence the trading purpose of retained funds, review treasury policies, and, where appropriate, segregate non-trading assets to protect the relief – ideally well before it's needed.

Neither is universally "better"; it depends on the objective. Trusts tend to maximise protection and flexibility, while a Family Investment Company (FIC) supports control and the shifting of future growth, with profits taxed at the corporate tax rate. In practice, many of the most effective plans blend both structures.

Life policies (held in trust) pay out on a shareholder's death, while cross-option agreements give the surviving owners the right to buy the shares and the deceased's estate the right to sell them. Together, they provide the liquidity for a clean buy-out and a more efficient tax outcome for all parties.

Usually, Business Property Relief does not apply, as it rarely applies to investment property. Alternatives may include trusts, a Family Investment Company, debt strategies, staged gifting, or trust-owned life cover — each carefully balanced against Capital Gains Tax and Stamp Duty Land Tax implications.

Yes — both the Property and Financial Affairs LPA and the Health and Welfare LPA. Together, they avoid the cost and delay of a deputyship application and ensure continuity in both business and personal decision-making if capacity is ever lost. They're a foundation of sound planning, not an optional extra.

This is an area undergoing significant change. From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and pension death benefits are due to be brought within the scope of inheritance tax — reversing the long-standing position that pensions generally sat outside the estate. For many families, this makes pensions central to estate planning rather than separate from it, with nomination decisions, withdrawal sequencing, and interactions with the age 75 rule now key considerations. We help clients and their advisers plan ahead of these reforms rather than react to them.