The Problem:
Many advisers will recognise Rob and Sarah immediately.
A couple approaching retirement, a substantial pension accumulated over decades, an estate plan that had not been revisited in years. On paper, their affairs were in order. In practice, the Autumn Budget 2024 had rendered the assumptions underpinning their plan largely obsolete.
The government's announcement that most unused pension funds would be brought within the scope of inheritance tax from April 2027 changed everything. The pension that had sat outside their estate — and that had shaped their planning for a generation — was suddenly the largest single IHT exposure they held.
Their nominations were out of date. Their wills were twenty-five years old. And neither they nor their existing advisers had yet had the conversation that the new rules demanded.
The Blueprint:
Chapter 2 of Pension Paradigm follows the conversations Rob and Sarah's adviser had to initiate — and the framework that made those conversations productive rather than alarming.
Not a technical walkthrough. Not a product recommendation sequence. But a structured approach to helping clients understand their exposure, recalibrate their expectations and engage meaningfully with the planning decisions now in front of them.
For advisers working with clients in similar positions, this chapter offers a practical model: how to open the conversation, how to frame the 2027 changes without creating unnecessary anxiety, and how to move from acknowledgement of the problem to considered, client-led action.
Chapter 2 is available to request below.
Request Chapter 2
Meet the Author
Ray L. Best is the founder and senior adviser at Wills, Tax & Trusts Ltd. With over 15 years in practice and more than 1,000 complex estates counselled, Ray specialises in high-net-worth estate planning, trust structuring, and strategic IHT navigation. His narrative-driven books are designed to strip away dense legal jargon, giving families and professional advisers the clarity they need to protect their legacy before the technical planning even begins.
Talk It Through With Our Team
If you'd like to discuss how the 2027 reforms affect your clients — or explore how we work alongside accountants and advisers on coordinated estate, trust and pension planning — we'd be glad to talk.
Pension Paradigm is available to professional advisers on request. If you would like a copy or would like to discuss how the book might be used in your practice — particularly in the context of client conversations around the proposed April 2027 pension changes — please get in touch with our team directly.