At YorWealth, we know planning for what happens to your assets after your death is a highly emotional topic. You want to make sure that your beneficiaries are well cared for when you are no longer around to look after them yourself. We are very experienced in helping our clients with inheritance tax planning and are here to help you protect your estate.
Arrange a meeting with our independent, York-based financial advisers today to get advice on inheritance tax.
Inheritance tax, often shortened to IHT, is a tax payable on your estate after your death. The value of your estate includes your money, investments, possessions, and properties. This tax will be taken from the total sum that will be passed down to your beneficiaries.
Each person has what is known as a nil rate band, which is a personal IHT tax allowance. For 2026/27, this is set at £325,000, and this threshold is frozen until 2031. Where the value of your estate exceeds this nil rate band, inheritance tax will be charged at 40%.
If you are leaving all your assets to your spouse, it’s likely no IHT will need to be paid, and their nil rate bands can increase. There are also other circumstances that increase a personal allowance, for example if you are leaving your main residence to your direct descendant.
An additional inheritance tax free allowance, known as the residence nil rate band (RNRB) exempts £175,000 (fixed until April 2031) of the main residence value from IHT liability. The main property must be left to direct descendants for RNRB to be claimable, and as with the nil rate band, is transferable between married couples and civil partners.
YorWealth advisers will talk you through the different options available so that you can make the most of your personal allowance and to best support your surviving family.
A lot of clients want to know whether leaving funds in trusts for their beneficiaries is the smart choice for their money. When you set up a trust or giving a gift, you are removing that sum from your estate. That means it won’t count towards you IHT threshold after your death, provided you live a certain number of years after the transfer.
Trusts are not completely exempt from inheritance tax, however. The type of trust you create will impact the tax due at each 10-year anniversary of its creation. Our advisers can talk you through the different types of trusts available for you and your unique assets. Bare trusts, discretionary trusts and interest in possession trusts are very popular, and you might even choose a blended approach and create mixed trusts for your estate.
It’s important to consider the long term impacts of putting money in trust or giving gifts. You need to be sure that you can afford the loss of the sum before you make any financial decisions. You need to consider your own everyday expenses, retirement needs, and to plan for any private care costs you might need to cover for yourself or your loved ones in the future.
Arrange a chat with one of the independent financial advisers at YorWealth to get inheritance tax planning advice tailored to your unique circumstances. We are here to help our clients become more tax efficient, plan for their future, and protect their families.
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