What is it?

It is your estate wealth and your possessions. Your estate is made up of every single asset you own, after any liabilities (such as a mortgage debt) are deducted.

This includes, but is in no way limited, to:

- Your house

- Your car

- Your savings and investments

- Your jewellery

- Your home furnishings

- Your items of notable value, such as an expensive painting

- Any other property you have, such as buy-to-let

So you’ve worked hard to build it all up, and you want to make sure that your loved ones benefit from your estate when your time comes.  Well, if this is one of your goals in life you need to think about it now, because if your wealth is above a certain level, HMRC will be at the front of the queue to take their slice before anyone else can access it.

To do this there are a number of simple, cost effective options available to you, including:

- Getting a Will in place

- Gifts and trust planning:

            Exceptions include:

            - Annual gift allowance

            - Marriage gifts exemption     

            - Small gifts exemption

            - Charitable donations exemption

- Other gifts (but in certain cases you must survive 7 years from the date of the gift)

Inheritance tax planning can be complex, which is why getting yourself financial advice is strongly recommended.  However be aware, some areas of Inheritance Tax Planning are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

If interested an excellent guide has been produced by the Daily Mail (In association with the Skipton Building Society) at the following link:

IHT Guide

If you need help to download, or order, this guide attend one of Highways Support Sessions, venues and dates are available via the Highway Calendar.