When you have spent a whole lifetime building up your personal wealth, you want to think that upon your death your estate will pass into the hands of your chosen beneficiaries and not into the hands of the Taxman.

All too often we meet clients who are shocked at how much of their inheritance is taken from them before they even see it! At present rates, the Taxman can take up to 40% of your estate! Yes almost half its value! This makes estate planning essential.

The earlier you make the arrangements, the greater your chance of taking full advantage of tax opportunities available and thereby maximising the amount that goes to your beneficiaries.

It is equally important when planning to transfer your estate that you make adequate provision for yourself and your spouse/civil partner in your later years. Striking this balance calls for considerable skill and foresight – and a detailed knowledge of the tax regime.

Where a person dies without a Will their inherited estate will be divided under the rules of intestacy. This may lead to an unsuitable outcome for beneficiaries and does not reflect the person’s wishes. In addition, it could lead to substantial tax liabilities.

We ensure that people’s wishes are accurately reflected in their Wills so that the estate is distributed accordingly and in conjunction with the inheritance planning that we undertake.

With the increasing number of second relationships where there might be a spouse,  partner or children from a previous relationship it has never been more important to prepare a Will.

If you have an existing Will we thoroughly recommend that you review it or if you currently do not have a Will then it is critical that you act now. An existing Will can become outdated for effective tax planning, which could lead to substantial tax liabilities. This may be mitigated by a Deed of Variation but this will result in additional costs to the estate.

How Grunberg & Co can help you:

• Assist with drawing up and reviewing your will
• Making full use of exemptions and lower tax rates on lifetime transfers
• Optimising lifetime transfers between spouses
• Transferring agricultural or business property
• Transferring assets into trust
• Advise on the amount of life assurance to cover potential inheritance tax liabilities.
• Probate services

At the end of the above process we can facilitate you with a report which has the tailored tax planning and wishes to include on the Will. For peace of mind, we can review the draft Will to ensure the planning is in place.