As new inheritance tax rules are enforced from 6 April 2027, what will you really leave behind?
Estate planning is a true example of where love is in the detail.
You spend a lifetime building a home, saving, investing and looking after the people you love. But what happens to it all when you’re no longer here?
A Will is important. But there are other details that can make an enormous difference to the people you leave behind: how your estate is structured, where your money is held, whether your family knows where everything is and, increasingly, how much of your wealth could be lost to tax.
Good estate planning isn’t only about WHAT you leave, it’s about HOW you leave it.
You could be leaving your family an expensive problem
The family home. Your savings. Your pension. And potentially a significant tax bill.
From 6 April 2027, for the first time most unused pension funds and death benefits are due to be included within estates for Inheritance Tax purposes. For people who have deliberately preserved their pensions to pass wealth to the next generation, that could change the plan considerably.
It doesn’t necessarily mean you should start taking money from your pension. It means the plan you made several years ago will need to be reviewed carefully.
Seven years is a long time. Until it isn’t.
One of the most important ingredients in estate planning is something none of us can buy more of: time.
You may have heard of the seven-year rule. Broadly, larger gifts can fall outside your estate for Inheritance Tax purposes if you survive for seven years after making them, although exemptions and other rules mean individual circumstances need to be considered.
The part that's easy to overlook is that you need to have those seven years.
Leave planning until much later in life and some of the choices that might once have been available to you may no longer be practical.
Starting earlier doesn't mean giving everything away. It means understanding your options while you still have them.
Talk to our advisers and understand more about:
“What exactly is the seven-year rule?”
“How much can I give away each year?”
"Will my pension be subject to Inheritance Tax from 2027?”
“Is inheritance between spouses tax-free?”
“Can I give money away and still afford care?”
“When should I start estate planning?”
Leave your family fewer problems, not more.
- A Will that still reflects your wishes.
- Pensions and investments that have been reviewed.
- Gifts properly recorded.
- Important financial information easy to find.
- A potential Inheritance Tax liability considered rather than discovered.
- And, a family that understands what happens next.
Love is in the detail.
At Rodney Spiller Wealth Management, we can help you look at the bigger picture: what you have, what you may need for yourself, what you would like to pass on and the planning opportunities available to you.
Will writing involves the referral to a service which is separate and distinct to those offered by St. James's Place. Wills are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
