A liability to inheritance tax can arise on disposals of assets (including property) whether by way of a gift during your lifetime or on death.

The rate of tax is often high and its impact if not fully considered can reduce significantly the benefit of a gift or inheritance.

Our team at Barr Ellison can advise you on your potential inheritance tax liability as well as possible steps tailored to your circumstances aimed at reducing or, where possible, eliminating this.

One of the key responsibilities of Executors and Administrators dealing with an estate is to ensure that the correct amount of Inheritance tax is paid on an estate and we can provide specialist advice to assist with this, whilst making sure that the full exemptions and reliefs due (e.g. business property and agricultural property) are claimed to secure the entitlement of the beneficiaries.

We can also advise on tax planning opportunities available for beneficiaries when inheriting assets from an estate, for example, through the use of Deeds of Variation and trusts. Examples of the advice we provide are:

• Lifetime planning (e.g. trusts for business assets and for children or grandchildren)
• Tax efficient Wills (e.g. for unmarried couples)
• Use of exemptions and reliefs (e.g. gifts to spouse, out of income, and to charity)
• Deeds of Variation
• Trusts (e.g. to keep death in service benefits out of future assessments for inheritance tax)
• Inheritance tax returns and support in obtaining an agreement of liability with HMRC.