Gould & Swayne Solicitors of Street, Glastonbury and Highbridge, Somerset, UK. Wealth Preservation - probate, trusts, wills and inheritance tax planning
Wills and Tax Planning
Our team has a wealth of expertise in the area of Wills, from their creation to obtaining probate and setting up trusts.
Inheritance Tax Changes
It was a good day for married couples and civil partners on the 9th October 2007. Many of them found that the burden of Inheritance Tax which had been looming over them through the increase in house prices over the years had been lifted.
As from 9th October, if one partner does not "use up" their allowences for Inheritance Tax because they want to give it to the surviving partner, then the allowence is transferable to the survivor, who then has two allowences to set against the Inheritance Tax.
Since 6th April 2008 each Allowence is worth £312,000, so this means effectively that if a married couple's assets or assets of civil partners do not exceed £624,000 in value then they should escape paying Inheritance Tax altogether.
In addition to this, if any assets are of a business nature, such as business shares or interest or shares in a private company, or if the assets are of an agricultural nature such as farms, fields, or woodland, then these kind of assets may get relief from Inheritance Tax too. Some may get 100% Relief and some 50%.
Also, if a spouse has already died, but they left everything to their husband or wife then the surviving spouse should also get two allowences. If they left part of thier estate only to the spouse then the surviving spouse should still get a proportion of the allowence on top of their own.
The change has come as a welcome benifit to a great number of families.
We can arrange an appointment for you at any of our offices or, if you are unable to attend the office, home or hospital visits can often be arranged.
We have written a number of questions and answers on Wills and Tax Planning which you may be interested in reading. Do please also use our enquiry form to ask us any specific questions you may have and we will get back to you as soon as possible.