Pension Paradigm
What the merger of pensions and inheritance tax means for you, your clients and their families.
For decades, pensions sat comfortably outside the inheritance tax conversation. Families were advised to preserve their pension wealth, draw on other assets first, and pass retirement savings to the next generation efficiently and largely untouched by IHT. Advisers built entire planning strategies around that single, dependable assumption.
That assumption is now ending.
From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and pension death benefits will be brought within the scope of inheritance tax for the first time – a change confirmed by the Government following its Autumn 2024 Budget, with draft legislation published in July 2025 ahead of the Finance Bill. For many of the clients you advise, pensions will no longer sit apart from estate planning. They will move to the very centre of it.
Pension Paradigm is a new book by Ray Best, Managing Director of Wills Tax & Trusts, written specifically for accountants and professional advisers who need to guide clients through this shift with clarity and confidence.
A Practical Guide, Not A Technical Manual
Rather than wading through legislation, Pension Paradigm follows the story of Rob and Sarah Bennett — a fictional couple approaching retirement who discover, almost by accident at a dinner party, how the reforms could reshape everything they had planned for their children and grandchildren. What begins as quiet unease becomes a structured, reassuring plan.
Through their journey, the book explores the questions your clients will increasingly bring to you:
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How frozen thresholds, inflation and investment growth quietly expand IHT exposure through fiscal drag — without any change in tax rates
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Why the age 75 rule matters, and how beneficiaries can face both inheritance tax and income tax on inherited pension withdrawals
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When earlier, intentional gifting may serve a family better than indefinite preservation
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How liquidity planning, trusts and life insurance can prevent forced asset sales and rushed decisions
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Why open family conversations, started early, reduce stress and protect outcomes
The aim is not to create alarm. It is to help families — and the advisers who serve them — adapt calmly, intelligently and early.
Why This Matters For Your Practice
Clients often combine their tax, pension, and estate planning, unlike the old models. After April 2027, neither can their advisers. The reforms draw retirement planning, estate structuring, beneficiary taxation, gifting strategy and liquidity management into a single, coordinated conversation.
The practical consequences reach further than tax alone. From 2027, personal representatives will have to report and pay any IHT due on unused pension funds, which will make estate administration more complex, especially for SIPP and SSAS arrangements with large assets. Advisers who understand these connections, and can explain them in plain language, will be the ones clients turn to first.
Download Chapter Two
We're pleased to offer accountants and professional advisers complimentary access to Chapter Two: A Different Type of Estate Planning, which sets out the central shift from accumulation to coordinated planning — and shows exactly how the conversation with clients can begin.
Simply enter your name and email below, and we'll send your copy straight to your inbox.
This page provides general information only and does not constitute personal financial, tax or legal advice. Tax legislation and pension rules may change, and the relevant legislation remains subject to final enactment. Readers should seek regulated professional guidance before acting. Examples drawn from the book are illustrative and fictional.