Estate & Inheritance · Bath

Inheritance tax
planning.

The conversation most clients put off. Done properly, it protects what you've built for the people who come next — and removes a burden the next generation should never have to carry.

Arrange a conversation
40%
the rate that falls on everything above your allowances — and the figure planning sets out to reduce.
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Inheritance tax is one of the few taxes you can plan your way around — quietly, legally, and years ahead. Most people simply never start.

A quick illustration

What might your estate owe?

Move the slider to see the rough position on an estate today, using 2026/27 thresholds. A starting point for a conversation — not a calculation of what you'd actually pay.

Whose estate?
£1,400,000
£0£1.5m£3m
Main home to children or grandchildren?
Estimated inheritance tax
£160,000
Roughly what an estate this size could owe — and what planning aims to reduce.
Covered by allowancesPotentially taxable
Estate value£1,400,000
Allowances available£1,000,000
Potentially taxable£400,000
Tax rate on the excess40%

Illustrative only — not personal advice or a tax calculation. Assumes 2026/27 thresholds (£325,000 nil-rate band per person, plus £175,000 residence nil-rate band where a home passes to direct descendants, tapered for estates over £2m), full allowances available and no prior gifts. A couple's figures assume allowances pass to the survivor. Your own position will differ.

i. · What this includes

Six levers, used in the right order.

Most estates don't need all of them. The plan starts with your position and uses only what earns its place.

i.

Estimate and projection

A clear estimate of your current liability, projected over twenty years if nothing changes — so you see the problem before deciding what to do about it.

ii.

Lifetime gifting strategy

Potentially Exempt Transfers and exempt gifts used in the right order and at the right time, so more passes on and less is taxed.

iii.

Gifts from normal expenditure

The under-used exemption that lets regular gifts from genuine surplus income fall outside your estate immediately, with no seven-year wait.

iv.

Trust planning

Bare, discretionary and life-insurance trusts, used where they earn their place — and always alongside your solicitor.

v.

Business Relief and AIM

Where appropriate, qualifying assets that can fall outside your estate after two years — weighed honestly against the extra investment risk they carry.

vi.

Life cover written in trust

Cover sized to meet the bill, held in trust so it pays out quickly and outside your estate, rather than adding to it.

ii. · Who this is for

If any of these is you, it's worth a look.

—Estates likely to exceed the nil-rate bands
—Anyone with adult children or grandchildren
—Business owners considering succession
—Clients expecting an inheritance themselves
—Recently widowed clients with combined estates
—Homeowners in and around Bath with rising values
iii. · My approach

The conversation is harder than the maths.

I work alongside your solicitor, not in place of one. The financial plan and the legal plan need to agree, and frequently don't.

I'll model what your estate looks like in twenty years if nothing changes, then show you the levers you can pull.

The work itself is straightforward once we've had the conversation. Most of the useful tools reward time, so the earlier we start, the more options you have.

— Andrew

iv. · Common questions

Inheritance tax, in plain English.

For 2026/27, each person has a £325,000 nil-rate band, plus up to £175,000 more if a main home passes to direct descendants. A married couple can often pass up to £1 million between them. Anything above the available allowances is usually taxed at 40%.
Some of it. Using allowances and gifting is general planning; trusts, Business Relief and life cover involve regulated advice and legal work. I'm clear about which is which, and bring in your solicitor where it's needed.
Most of the useful tools reward time — a gift can take seven years to fall fully outside your estate. The earlier the plan, the more options you have. It's rarely too early; it can be too late.
Not as much as people think. With thresholds frozen until 2031 and house prices in and around Bath where they are, ordinary estates increasingly cross the line. If you own a home and have savings, it's worth a look.
No. I work alongside them. The aim is a plan that's coherent across everyone involved — not all the fees flowing to me.

This page, and the estimate on it, are general educational information about how inheritance tax works in the UK. They are not personal financial or tax advice and do not take account of your individual circumstances. Tax thresholds and rules are subject to change. Please take regulated advice on your own situation before acting.

Risk warnings. The value of investments and any income from them can fall as well as rise. You may get back less than you invest. HM Revenue and Customs practice and the law relating to taxation are complex and subject to change; tax allowances and rules may not remain as they are today.

Andrew Daw is an Appointed Representative of Saltus Wealth Partnership Limited (FCA FRN 449607), trading as Duchy IFA. For UK residents only.

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Begin with a conversation.

A complimentary 30 minutes, by phone, video or in person. We'll look at where your estate stands and the levers worth pulling. No obligation, no pitch.

Arrange a conversation